


Land Among the Stars

by BlossomingRosebud



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender, 신의 탑 | Tower of God
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Military, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, But it's okay they'll be fine, Canon-Typical Violence, Friendship, Gen, Mentions of Suicide, Protags are a squadron in Jahad's army, Science Fiction, Sentient Voltron Lions, Team as Family, You can guess how long that's gonna last
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-05
Updated: 2020-12-15
Packaged: 2021-03-04 07:20:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 54,820
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24549784
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BlossomingRosebud/pseuds/BlossomingRosebud
Summary: Five years ago, Khun Aguero Agnis thought he watched his best friend fall to his death.It was a dark day for all of the 134th Squadron, but, they've kept moving forward. Living as soldiers under Emperor Jahad, but subtly defying him to the extent that their privilege of being both far away from Central and entirely unimportant to the empire would give them, and besides that, just doing their jobs.Khun's main problems at present are merely the occasional pirate, avoiding getting arrested for treason, and making sure Ehwa doesn't set the kitchen on fire. He wasn't expecting FUG to show up. He wasn't expecting Bam to be alive. And he certainly wasn't expecting the revival of a legendary sentient super weapon that had been dormant three thousand years.But, they always said life was full of surprises.
Relationships: Hatsu & Twenty-Fifth Baam | Jyu Viole Grace, Ja Wangnan & Yeon Yihwa, Khun Aguero Agnis & Twenty-Fifth Baam | Jyu Viole Grace
Comments: 42
Kudos: 95





	1. On the Corner of Here and Nowhere

**Author's Note:**

> I've always found it a lot of fun to fit characters from fandoms into the Voltron lions. Like, who would be which? This story is basically that idea. It's a fusion crossover AU with the characters from Tower of God into the world of Voltron, with ToG characteristics, still. Like, the Jahad Empire is a thing, but instead of the Tower, it exists in the multi-planetary universe. So, Sci-fi space setting. FUG is also here; similar to canon, they're the main force opposing the empire, and they got some territory of their own.
> 
> So yeah, basic idea is that the squad is a squadron and will become pilots of Voltron sooner or later! This story is an origin story of sorts—I don't plan on going too long, probably just 5-7 chapters or so, but I might make a sequel later. 
> 
> Also, sort of manwha spoilers ahead, mostly just for the first half of season 2. Being an AU, things don't happen the same way as canon, but I do mirror canon. Anyhow, enjoy :)

It was too early for this. Khun Aguero Agnes blinked his eyes open a little more, took a sip of coffee, and made no move to leave the doorway yet. Standing on the stairway a story above the kitchen, they didn’t see him. Should he get involved?

“Ahh, I can’t get it out! B-Blankets! I need blankets!” Ehwa yelled while frantically looking around the kitchen for something.

“Uhh—can’t we just use the faucet or something!?” Wangnan suggested with panic.

“But it’s _oil_! I mean, I think it is!”

Hmm, they’ll be fine.

“It’s getting bigger!” Prince pointed out from where he was crouched on top of the counter.

“THEN HELP!” Wangnan barked at him.

“I-I got it!” Miseng pelted back into the room with a thick blanket, which she threw haphazardly on the fire. But it still kept burning.

“Oh no oh no…shouldn’t we have—!?” Ehwa looked around frantically.

“FLAME TURTLE! I heard screaming!” Rak in his smaller form ran into the room from the downstairs door but wasn’t looking where he was going and slipped on the corner of the blanket.

“AHH! RAK!”

And now Rak was on fire. Wonderful.

“EVERYBODY GET OUT OF THE WAY!” Endorsi barged in and barked at everybody before unleashing a fire extinguisher (finally) at the scene.

Aguero Agnes took that as his cue to finally come down and get breakfast. He ignored the crew’s more frantic looks as he strolled into the scene—or rather, most of their surprise plus Endorsi’s annoyed indifference and Rak looking cross as he sat on the floor with a pile of foam on his alligator-esque head. What did he want again? An egg? It was obviously no one was cooking for real this morning, so he might as well help himself.

“K-Khun!” Ehwa stammered as he casually came down the stairs and stepped around the pool of fire extinguisher foam. “When did you get here!?”

“Yeah!” Wangnan looked back and forth from him to the stairs, seeming suddenly offended. “Were you…were you _watching_!? You could have helped with your ice!”

“Didn’t feel like it,” Aguero replied as he searched the cupboards for something good. They needed more supplies. “Just clean it up.” His ice really wouldn’t have been much good anyways. Ehwa’s flames were stronger. Aguero didn’t exactly spend much time honing in on the elements of his race; they reminded him of his father just a little too much.

“You say clean it up, like…just _them_ , or…?” Prince asked hopefully as if about ready to bolt.

Aguero turned back, looked him straight in the eyes, and smiled. “Unless you would rather go fetch me some slimes from the Everdark Swamp?”

“Ugh, _what_!?” He made a disgusted face. “I mean…ah…no! Nope! Whatever you say, Commander!” Prince smiled nervously as he promptly jumped down from the counter and grabbed a towel.

Well, that was easy, as expected. Aguero wouldn’t actually send him alone out there (although there were short on slime), but it was funny watching him squirm. He wasn’t exactly much of a fighter, nor was he keen on gross situations. Technically, Prince wasn’t a member of the squadron at all, but rather, he was the kid of this guy who led a shady loan company that was causing problems, who ended up helping them midway into the conflict. Long story short, he had to leave, there was nowhere else to go, and Aguero has apparently turned completely soft…

Miseng was another such member, for that matter. She was cousins with their medic, Goseng, but she too had lost her home. She was young, but it didn’t stop her from training hard and desiring to join them as a full-fledged soldier.

Whether or not that was a great idea was another question entirely.

“I thought Arkraptor was cooking this morning?” Aguero asked.

“Right, yes!” Ehwa answered quickly. “He got sick, so I offered to do it instead!”

“You…offered?” Aguero raised an eyebrow. No one he would have agreed to that.

She laughed nervously in response. “I mean, I offered to find someone else to do it, but most everyone was busy, so me and Wangnan were going to do it together, and…and I _will_ learn to cook eventually! I almost had it!”

Aguero sighed. He would love to point out that using your own flames to cook is a horrible idea for the kitchen, but he didn’t have time for that. “Arkraptor is sick?”

“I got him to go to Goseng.”

“Thanks.” Aguero nodded. He knew already that the man would likely try to cover it up, but he could count on someone like Ehwa to get him to get some medical attention. Although Aguero feared the reason might be due to yesterday’s mission…they _were_ running around in a bit of a toxic environment.

Aguero finally just got himself more coffee and left, musing to himself about how he was slowly turning into his old training corps commander, Hansung. No…no one could be a worse coffee drinker than him. But Aguero needed to talk to Shibisu and Hatz before their departure, so he didn’t have time for breakfast.

He stepped outside into the sunlight, walking in the empty space between the buildings that made up the 134th squadron’s base. It was a small base, on a small planet. No other peoples inhabited it, just a bit of woodland and some wild animals. Their defenses were relatively poor and their numbers small for a squadron in Jahad’s army, but that’s just what happened when you were stationed on the furthest and most unimportant corner of the empire. And that was just how Aguero liked it.

Aguero walked towards the hangar where the spacecraft were kept, obliged to do the leader thing like his station required. It didn’t mean much for him to have the position, though. He knew that his family name was at least a solid 70% of the reason he was chosen, after the promotion of their former commander four years prior, plus the fact that his half-sister Maria, now a princess, vouched for him. He was glad she did. He wouldn’t have wanted to leave, exactly. He had known some of these people ever since their training corps days, and he had very specifically manipulated his way into getting them all on this particular base and did not plan on leaving. The reason was simple. This place was far away from Central, and as such, Jahad didn’t care about their existence. There were plenty of pirates and rogues to deal with, giving them far more problems coupled with far less resources than anyone else, but it worked.

After all, if Central knew half the things Aguero did or hid while working in this sector of the galaxy, they’d probably shoot him on the spot.

“Hey, Khun!” Shibisu hailed him as Aguero entered the hangar. He and Hatz were currently loading the small scouting cruiser for a mission.

Aguero greeted him back with a half-wave as he walked in. “About to leave?”

“Yeah, just making sure we got food.” Shibisu nodded, leaning against the side of the silver-gray cruiser as Hatz was busy adding a small crate of something to the back. “It’ll probably take us about three or four days, depending, since we haven’t even looked at this planet before, and it’s huge! I mean, relatively. Can’t believe something like that was completely obscured by that asteroid belt!” He laughed a little, before his gaze turned serious. “Heh, for real though, I really do think there’s a good chance that the real reason we missed it was because someone used to be cloaking it somehow. That said, it might take more days than four, if we run into people there. But maybe I’m just being paranoid.” He shrugged.

“No, you’re right to be paranoid.” Aguero had thought the same thing, and besides that, he trusted Shibisu’s judgment. “Don’t rush into anything. You can take your time.” He didn’t like not knowing, either. Hated it, in fact. The appearance of this strange rock planet on their radar naturally warranted a scouting mission, but its size did have him suspicious. “Actually, are you sure you don’t want more people? Maybe a warship backing you up?”

“Of course not,” Hatz replied this time, sounding a tiny bit offended. “It’s a scouting mission; we’re not bringing the armada. We’ll be fine.”

Aguero nodded mutely. He couldn’t help but remember his schooling in moments like this—when doing scouting, you send someone fast, but you don’t send someone strong, because they’re the ones most likely to die anyways. In other words, scouts are expendable. And yet, Hatz was one of their best melee fighters, and Shibisu was more or less like his second in command.

Well, that idea has changed a little, hasn’t it? Years ago, Aguero would have had no problem letting the people around him die. That was just how it was. Soldiers were expendable. Someone with training from a noble family, like him, had an unfair advantage in getting to be more important, but that was just how it was. But…somehow or another, it just wasn’t that way anymore. He didn’t want to see anyone in his squadron die. Sure, he would save them at the expense of literally anyone else in this world, but it wasn’t like he was trying to be a good person. It was a little late for that.

He just didn’t want to lose anyone like he lost Bam.

Aguero exhaled, reminding himself to get to the point. “There’s something else I need to tell you about, actually. We got a new order from Central. They want us to destroy a painting.”

Both Shibisu and Hatz stopped and raised their eyebrows at that, seeming understandably confused. “Huh, that’s new,” Shibisu noted with a short laugh. “What, did someone paint Jahad with a unibrow or something?”

Aguero shrugged and shook his head, unfortunately lacking a good explanation. “No, the description is that it’s a painting of three waterfalls. Made by some guy name Hockney from this planet in the 43rd sector—you remember the one with the Red Fortress?”

“Oh no, _that_ place?” Shibisu groaned expressively. “I hated that planet!”

Hatz shrugged, seeming undeterred. “It’s not that bad besides the river of blood. You just have to avoid everything.”

“That’s the problem! All the flora and fauna are _literally_ trying to steal your soul!” Shibisu sighed. “I just can’t believe people actually live there. Well, I guess Anaak did for a while, but still. Sure, I guess that’s fine. But what’s so important about a painting of waterfalls, anyways?”

“You think they told me?” Aguero smirked before turning serious again. “No, I don’t know. Apparently, the governor there found out about it and now they want us to destroy the painting and kill the painter.”

“Hmm, so we need to find out why it’s important, and save the painter if necessary?” Hatz concluded easily.

“Bingo.” Aguero smiled, although admittedly, he was a little less sure. They had already taken a risk there a few years prior by faking the deaths of Grand de Sah and Grand de Jah, the former rulers of the planet, giving them the chance to escape and maybe potentially return later, if Jahad’s governor got overthrown or, better yet, scared away by that crazy planet. But, none of that was likely. The planet had too many good resources, and Jahad’s empire was not in the habit of shrinking.

At this point, the Empire of Jahad ruled over most of the known universe. As far as most people were concerned, it is all that there ever was. Steadily it kept growing to more fringe planets it could take unquestioned dominion over, and all other forces were nothing. Well, that’s what Central would think, anyways. Out here, Aguero knew that plenty of other factions existed, although most of them were merely pirates and rogues, with a few actual rebel groups springing up here and there. There was one group, however, that legitimately gave the Empire a run for their money, and that was FUG. Those guys had been launching guerilla attacks and assassinations for years. And Aguero should know…they were the ones who killed Bam in that one attack five years ago. Their squadron hasn’t seen a glimpse of them since, which was surprising, but probably for the best, as Aguero couldn’t count on himself to hold onto his better reason if those bastards _did_ show up.

As far as the attacks that had nothing to do with them went, Aguero couldn’t bring himself to particularly care. The Empire was corrupt—he knew that. They squashed dissension, enslaved scores of conquered peoples, and rigged the system to keep the ones in power on top. It was ironic, considering that the Empire was supposed to be the ones who brought in the ‘era of peace.’ The story went that a few thousand years ago, the universe was ruled by numerous smaller, warring kingdoms, always struggling for power and control and keeping the people in poverty. Then, Jahad and the ten Great Warriors showed up, and they ended the war by conquering everything. What’s even better, they did it with the greatest legendary fighting force of their time—Voltron. Voltron was, before Jahad ever showed up, a symbol of peace and protection, and with Voltron, they created the great Alliance.

It was interesting to Aguero that many of the empire’s fringe civilizations had a different story. Some say that Voltron was gone a thousand years _before_ Jahad’s rise, and that the days of the Voltron Alliance were the true golden era of legend. Some say that Voltron fought _against_ Jahad. Others have this story that the old legendary pilots of Voltron are asleep somewhere and will reawaken one day to liberate the world once again, and that’s the real reason why there have been no Voltron pilots since then. Then, still others say that Voltron is nothing but a weird fairy tale about flying mechanical lions, and it never really existed.

Aguero didn’t know anything about legends, but he did know for the fact, at least, that Voltron was real. His family were the ones who had the Blue Lion.

It was laughable, in a way. Aguero had no idea why his family had it; chances were, they stole it just like the Jahad Empire stole everything else. He just knew that, over the years, they kept trying to produce pilots, and they kept failing. Voltron was interesting, in that way. Apparently, the pilot had to be ‘chosen’ by the lion, as if the machines were sentient somehow. If they didn’t choose you, you never got off the ground. So, every time a member of the family got into their father’s favor, they would do this big song and dance to send them into the Blue Lion’s hangar and see if they got chosen. He knows they tried with Maschenny, and also with Lyborick and Royale. But, no one was ever chosen. Aguero wasn’t chosen, either. Of course, he was never chosen by the family to try, but he was much younger, he did sneak in there to get in that cockpit and try, once. The Lion was as dead to him as it was to anyone else.

It made sense, knowing what he did now. If the Lions were really sentient, they wouldn’t touch a member of the Khun family with a ten-foot-pole. They would only use the power to backstab everybody else, and Aguero wasn’t that much better. Or maybe, the Lions were just gone for good now, an empty shell that only exists as a story. As far as anybody knew, there hasn’t been a pilot in the three thousand years since the Empire began. Why would it be any different now?

“Ah, I guess we’ll have to hurry up with this planet to deal with this Hockney guy, then.” Shibisu sighed. “There’s never any rest. Well!” He straightened up. “We’ll report to you once we get to the asteroid belt, Khun! Let us know if anything happens!”

“Will do. Don’t rush it too hard.” Khun smiled. That strange planet was the most important thing for now, anyways. He can just tell his superiors that they’re ‘looking for him’ if they ask about Hockney. He wasn’t going back to the Red Fortress without his best scouts, anyways.

Aguero walked away and let the two of them finish getting ready to go. He would deal with little things like the painting when they got there. For now, the only important things were the same as they had always been: keep the sector safe, and keep the team safe. Aguero wasn’t trying to uphold the empire, nor was he trying to overthrow it. It was just that, ever since they all decided to hide Anaak years ago instead of letting Jahad’s assassins have her, there was simply no need to pretend to be following the rules anymore. As long as the team was on the same page about it, they would stay here and keep their secrets, and keep the planets under their guardianship safe, if not free.

If Aguero had to kill Hockney, he would. The squadron’s safety was priority. But, that didn’t mean he wasn’t down for a little bit of resistance against Central’s aggressive censorship policies. They’ve already done it numerous times before, even if it meant just saving a few people.

They all knew it’s what Bam would have wanted, anyways.

* * *

They both expected to find something on the strange and potentially dangerous side here. Planets this size didn’t tend to just appear for no reason. This, however? Hatz had to admit—he was a little surprised. And impressed.

 _“Hatz, talk to me! Are you good? How many of them are there!?”_ Shibisu spoke hurriedly to him over the communicator in his ear.

“They don’t see me,” Hatz replied, slightly leaning over the edge of the rocky spire he was perched on top of to get a better look. There were people, alright. He was expecting an abandoned base. Maybe their cloaking mechanism just broke, somehow? Assuming that’s what they were using. Either way, there was definitely activity here, and it was no ramshackle pirate lair. It was large, black, metallic-looking building, with two observation towers and turrets all along the top and base of the wall, besides the guards. It was just two of them at this entrance, though. Shibisu didn’t see any from where he was at, controlling observers from their ship still hidden a distance away. It might be that this was the only entrance? Although, there was a chance there could be routes underground. The data from their instruments suggested a tunnel system.

 _“Well, stay hidden, okay!? This place has way too many guns for us to show our faces. We should probably turn back.”_ Shibisu sounded worried.

Hatz, however, wasn’t too keen on the idea of running away. “Shouldn’t we at least find out who they are?”

_“Ahh…yeah. We could just review the footage later?”_

“You have an idea?”

Shibisu sighed. _“Oh, fine. Look, I’m not positive, but it might be FUG. I know that sounds crazy, but the style of their weaponry matches. Besides, no one else around here has this kind of technology, assuming they cloaked the place. Maybe Wolhaiksong, but no one’s heard from them in years. I wouldn’t expect them to be so close by.”_

Hatz’s eyes widened. “You sure?”

_“Err…eighty percent?”_

That meant there was a good chance. Hatz trusted Shibisu’s judgment. It might not be the case, but even so, it made his heart quicken a little. Subconsciously, he clenched a fist around the hilt of his sword. Could it be them? No one from their squadron has seen them in years, but…no one ever forgot. It was only a skirmish. It shouldn’t have been a devastating attack, but they were outclassed by FUG so badly…

He would never forget the way Khun looked that day, the pure horror in his eyes as they rescued him from the wreckage, as he hardly made an effort to move off of the ground. It wasn’t the first loss they experienced, nor was it the last, but Khun was never more devastated than he was when he had to watch Bam get shot out of the sky and fall to the ground a thousand feet below. Hatz knew they were close, but for that matter, Bam was Hatz’s friend, as well. It wasn’t something he was expecting to have, but somehow, he bonded with these people in the training corps—Bam, Khun, Rak, Endorsi, Anaak, and Shibisu—so that even though he was fully aware that one or all of them could easily die one day, it still hurt to lose any one of them. Plus, Bam was sort of the reason they all started talking to each other in the first place. Hatz sure wasn’t the one planning on it.

“They’re in a good position to attack us,” Hatz spoke grimly. “If they’re here, then why haven’t they yet?”

_“Maybe we’re just small fry to them? Seriously, what would they gain?”_

“Or they could be hiding something.” They were big enough to be attacked before, weren’t they?

_“Then we’ll have to wait. There’s no way we can get that many clues from the outside. This is a fortress!”_

Hatz nodded, although no one was there. “Then I’ll go inside.”

_“HATZ! You serious—”_

“Isn’t this the best way to complete the mission? What’s my best way inside?”

There was a pause, and he heard Shibisu sigh loudly over the line. “It’d be good to avoid letting them know we were ever here, so we should avoid the guards. So, not the main entrance. But…give me a minute. I think I have an idea.”

* * *

Hatz ran swiftly down the long, dark hallway, observer buzzing at his side. The small spherical robot, controlled by Shibisu, darted around and disabled any security cameras—or at least, the ones they could see. Their lack of knowledge as to this place did mean that there could be surprises, and the chance was admittedly high that Hatz’s presence would be made known. But, that wasn’t a problem. He’s been caught in the past. Plenty of times, actually. But, he could always fight his way out of it without being captured, so that was the plan for this situation, too. Even though Shibisu made sure to remind him—frequently—that this was a bad idea, he trusted his friend’s tech skills to get them past security, so it would be fine.

He reached the end of the tunnel and saw the locked door. Didn’t sound like there was anyone here or on the other side. They were right, about there being underground entrances. Shibisu used their instruments on the ship to get a good guess as to where they might be, and after a little bit of time, they were finally able to uncover the entrance to a tunnel. Luckily for them, there weren’t any guards posted out there, just an automated security system.

With a click, the door slid open, and Hatz slipped inside. The observer would stay in the tunnel to hang by the door and ensure his exit, and Shibisu should be able to hear whatever he was hearing through the earpiece. All Hatz needed to do now was remain unseen, be quick, and find out who these people were.

As expected from seeing the outside, the base was huge, and the hallways were confusing. Occasionally he would hear people, in which case he would wait in the shadows until they walked pass, but he couldn’t glean much from the small conversations. They didn’t have a uniform, he noticed. Other than that, he came across a large open space with props that appeared to be some kind of training area and shooting range, but for the most part, all he ran across were more locked doors.

Oddly enough, it was the smell that drew him to this one place. Something was odd about it, sterile but tangy, but for now, all he saw was a dead-end hallway and a plain doorway. That, and two people in lab coats talking in front of the door.

“He’s not ready!” A woman with short dark hair in a bun protested to an older-looking man. “We can’t complete the ignition weapon process! What if it’s not compatible?”

“Well this is the situation we are in, isn’t it?” The man sighed and readjusted his glasses. “We should have attempted a complete process in the first place. Now, without Number 21, we’re missing half of this power, aren’t we?”

“You can’t just try anything,” the woman remained serious. “You know we can’t afford to lose him.”

“They want results,” the man persisted as he entered input into the keypad by the door. It opened promptly, and he stepped through. The woman followed him and let the door swing shut.

Hatz darted out from the corner he was hiding behind and ran for it. He got to the door before it closed, holding it slightly open, and waited for just a second for the two scientist’s voices to grow distant. Then, he slipped in.

Hatz was assaulted right off the bat by a weird smell he hated and colors bright enough to disorient his eyes. He stepped closer inside. He saw a counter lined with sealed flasks with some bright blue and green liquids to his left, and there was some strange contraption with tubes on the table to his right. It was at this moment that Hatz remembered he was not a chemist, and he honestly had no idea what he was looking at. He guessed he just needed to remember enough to tell Shibisu later? Although they could technically talk now, it was too risky to make a sound unless they needed to. Maybe they should have brought a camera. Usually that’s what the observer was for. But would anyone else actually recognize these things? Maybe Goseng would know?

He stepped quietly through the lab environment, hearing other voices but opting to just keep a distance from them. Then, he noticed that on the other side of this open doorway, the space seemed to open up, so he went through it.

Hatz’s eyes went wide the moment he saw it. He…wasn’t quite sure he was seeing this right? But he knew. He knew what quintessence looked like; he’s seen people control it before—Bam, for instance, was one of the best quintessence manipulators he knew. He thinks it’s just a matter of controlling it from what’s innate in a person or in the air. But this? This just didn’t make sense.

There were tubes of it. Like, not a small vial or anything—no, there were _multiple_ glass tubes the diameter of tree trunks and taller than Hatz’s head, and they were filled with a very disconcertingly alive-looking purple liquid-like substance. He knew quintessence to be more of a blue in its pure ethereal form, but when it was solidified, he was sure the color looked exactly like this. But how? He didn’t think it was possible to _collect_ it like this! What were they using it for?

“You shouldn’t be here.”

Hatz turned around in half a second, sword unsheathed and cursing himself for getting distracted. But there wasn’t time for thinking about that.

Hatz lunged before the man had a chance to make the first move. His first impression was that this guy was huge. Or, at least, much taller than he was. And he seemed to be alone. A quick glance told him that no one else was in the room, though he didn’t expect it to stay that way.

Hatz’s sword hit his chest in a sweeping arc, scoring the man’s thick dark overcoat. The man followed with the movement for a punch but Hatz jumped backwards before it landed. Did he not have a weapon?

_“Hatz! Hatz, what’s going on!?”_

“I’m on my way out,” he assured Shibisu shortly, not losing his focus as he moved forward to attack the man. Generally, he didn’t like taking down someone unarmed, but this was an exception. He was blocking the doorway out of here.

Hatz’s breath caught, for just a moment. He hit him. He hit the man exactly, right on his right arm. But…he wasn’t bleeding.

In his second of hesitation the man grabbed his arm and flung him backwards with a moment of strength that felt unreal. “Who are you with?” he demanded to know, although his tone more bored than anything else. “Are you a soldier of Jahad?”

Hatz regained his footing and watched as suddenly, the man’s right arm transformed. He had seen a number of strange abilities like this in the past from all the races he’s encountered…but this was completely different than anything he had ever seen before. It was like pure energy, a whirlwind of red light the augmented the flesh of his arm until the flesh was no longer visible, and it radiated power.

_WHAM!_

“Agh!”

Hatz darted to the side, but it didn’t stop the blast from hitting his ribs. He was pushed back but got back up; a touch of his hand on his chest told him there was some blood. “Funny,” he addressed the man as he stilled his breath. “I was going to ask the same thing. Who are you!?”

“The Devil of the Right Arm,” the man replied without hesitation.

He came in on the attack and Hatz jumped away. He swung his sword and was blocked by the arm. Fine then. If he wanted to block, he would drive his backwards before he had the chance to transform again.

He recognized the name. He wasn’t expecting to, but he did. His squadron hadn’t encountered FUG in five years, but that didn’t mean they weren’t paying attention to the reports. He knew about the attacks. And he remembered the report of this one self-proclaimed ‘Devil of the Right Arm’, the one who killed hundreds.

Now Hatz knew for certain their suspicions were right. This really was a FUG base.

Hatz focused his energy into his sword. He couldn’t relent. He hammered on him, dodged his attacks. When he had the opening, he stabbed the man in the chest, straight and even. It wasn’t deep, but he drew blood this time.

But, he could still tell, the difference was obvious between them. If he got a hit in, he could do a little bit of damage. But for the man, it only took one good hit.

Hatz didn’t move in time when the man brought down a blow to the top of his head with his left arm and kicked him in the gut just after. One moment, and he was left sprawled on the floor. He could hardly move.

_“Hatz—!”_

Hatz took out his earpiece and crushed it between his fingers. He hoped Shibisu would be smart about this. There was no reason they should find him, too.

He saw the red whirlwind glow again. His last sensation was that it felt like a hurricane was beating his chest before he blacked out.

* * *

“Are we sure about keeping him alive?”

“Hmph, not my choice. You know the Workshop’s been begging for new subjects, and someone strong enough to not die after the first test would be a plus.”

“Yeah, I guess.”

Michael grunted in reluctant agreement as he proceeded to drag the kid’s bound and unconscious body down the hallway. Apple didn’t pay him too much mind; he was probably just upset at having to be the one to haul him. Meanwhile, she worked on consulting her computer, displayed as a hologram a short distance from her person, as she walked.

“He is one of Jahad’s, it looks like,” Apple announced with mild interest upon completing her look through the database. “Just a common soldier, though. A scout, no doubt.”

“Argh, I _knew_ this would happen!” Michael vented loudly. “The cloaking breaks, and in barely two days, someone finds us!” He sighed. “At least it’s just a scout. No one will care if he’s gone, although he might have reported back already. I guess we’ll just have to move the planet again.”

“Well, that shouldn’t be problem then, should it?” Apple noted as they stopped in front of an empty cell. A low moan that sounded after they threw the scout in told them that apparently, he was conscious again, and besides that, still alive. That was good. They would have to get a healer in here sooner or later if they wanted him to be of any use, though.

“You know, I can’t remember the last time someone made a mark on Cassano,” Apple casually brought up with a note of curiosity. “He’s not bad. If the Workshop wasn’t in need of test subjects, I’d bet the Cage would pay a good price for him. He’d do well in the ring, and pure humans _are_ hard to come by these days.” She turned to start walking away.

Michael walked alongside her. “Eh, I guess, but humans are boring.”

Apple chuckled. “Says the human.”

“Yeah, whatever.” He shrugged.

Apple smiled and kept walking, aiming for the meeting room that they were once in before their little interruption. “Well, we have bigger things to think about, don’t we?” she pointed out. “Like our role in the operation.” She shrugged, and then smiled lightly. “Not that it’s too big of a deal, though. I’m sure they wouldn’t care about us anyways. The only reason we’re doing it now is to test that golden boy of theirs already.”

She opened the door to the meeting room, noting the people inside and smirking as she rested her eyes on the one boy who didn’t quite seem to be paying attention. “Isn’t that right, Viole?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Poor Hatz. He's in for a rough time of it. Just let him know I do this because he's one of my favorites lol
> 
> So yeah, clarifications! I'm kind of merging the concepts of quintessence and shinsoo some here. It's life-force quintessence as it is in Voltron canon, but I'm having it that it gets manipulated like shinsoo would be by someone who's a wave controller equivalent, which in this world, I'm making to be a trait that's kind of rare.
> 
> The 134th right now is basically a combination of the OG squad, Team Sweet & Sour (minus Horyang, as he would be future excitement if I so choose to continue this), and also Boro and Sachi, because I needed to throw some more responsible adults into the mix. 
> 
> Thanks for reading!


	2. Whatever We Have Left

_"This ship is going down_   
_But you don't have to sink with the rest of them_   
_Don't leave it up to fate_   
_Tomorrow is too late_   
_So come while there's still a choice to make"_

_—_ Attalus, "This Ship is Going Down"

* * *

Aguero wanted nothing more than to leave, right now. He just…he couldn’t talk to them. Not like this. He needed some time first. He needed to do something, to send drones, to send _anything_ , although he knew already it was pointless.

“AND YOU _LET_ HIM!?”

Anaak had Shibisu by his shirt collar, yanking him down to her level. Instead of squirming, he let her, closing his eyes to avoid all of theirs, and instead of punching him, her shoulders trembled.

“I’m sorry—”

“THAT WON’T CUT IT!”

“Hey guys! Guys!” Wangnan tried to get in between them, looking desperate. His face, too, was blanched, the gaze in his eyes broken as if he watched it happen instead of only hearing the news after the fact.

Aguero stood a short distance away from the scene. He watched Shibisu and Anaak, and Wangnan beside them, Ehwa behind him with a hand on his shoulder, Endorsi standing there looking away with fists clenched, scowling at the air, and then Boro and Sachi over there a distance apart from them all, exchanging a solemn, worried glance.

And they still needed to tell everyone else, too.

“It’s my fault,” Aguero spoke up, resisting the urge to avert his gaze and walk away. “I should have known, I…I shouldn’t have sent them there.”

“Khun, it was _our_ idea…” Shibisu countered weakly.

“I’m going to kill them,” Endorsi announced. Her eyes were cold were she turned back to look at everybody else. “I can’t believe we’ve been _hiding_ from those FUG bastards all these years; I’m going to make them pay.”

“No!” Khun barked back, his tone angry. “No, we’re _not_ going after them! We already lost two people; you don’t think we could lose more!?”

“Well what if Hatz is still alive, huh?” Endorsi challenged. “We don’t know he’s dead! We should be going _back_ there; not leaving him behind!”

Khun gritted his teeth. What was annoying was that Endorsi, as a princess, was a higher rank, so he technically couldn’t even stop her if she got it in her head to go alone. Not that he’s ever pulled rank on anyone like that before…but he would, if they insisted on suicide. “What makes you think they would keep him alive?”

“Well _maybe_ he escaped!”

“And how likely do you think that is!?”

“STOP IT! ALL OF YOU!” Ehwa yelled out, prompting the others to stop talking. Aguero looked and saw tears glistening down her cheeks, her fists clenched. “Just…stop. He’s not going to come back like this, we just…we need…we need to plan…”

“I’m sorry.” Shibisu shook his head as Anaak let go of him. “This is all my fault. I just…I shouldn’t have let him.”

Aguero’s gaze narrowed at the sky, his stance tense. “I need to go.”

He was a coward, but that was fine, for now. He really did have a meeting, and he needed to pull himself together before then. _Don’t be weak. People die all the time. Why did you think you were special?_

Maybe he had become complacent. Maybe they all have. They had been in plenty of dangerous situations over the years, plenty of times in which they were outmanned, but it had just been a long time since they had _lost_. They all remembered losing Bam. They remembered the loss of Hoh, Serena, Dede, and Gyetang. But that was all years ago.

Hatz had been there ever since the training days. Aguero remembered him as the annoying honor-obsessed guy who called his earrings ugly. He remembered the pleasure of winning that one spar against him before he was challenged again and got utterly defeated now that Hatz knew how not to fall for his tricks. And then, somehow, they were eating lunch together, which was entirely Bam and Shibisu’s fault. He remembered how he hardly missed a beat on that night when Endorsi burst in the boys’ room with an unconscious, bleeding Anaak in her arms, saying that Lo Po Bia Ren was after them, and they needed help to escape. Aguero was too stunned trying to figure out what he was more surprised by: that Ren was after them, that Endorsi was helping Anaak, her rival, or that she was actually asking for _help_. But Hatz helped without question. Even though all of their actions that night meant they could be arrested for treason, if they were caught. Hatz just wasn’t the type to turn away. He never ran away…even when he should.

Aguero stared blankly as his screen buzzed to life. His smile was fake, plastered on. He needed to get this over with.

Maschenny Jahad, his superior general, also known as his older half-sister, was being her usual ray of sunshine as she regarding him coldly and ran through the report. The million-dollar question came up soon enough. “You mentioned an unknown planet in your last report. Update?”

Aguero breathed in. He had thought about this, already. “Just a rock planet. There were hostile forces stationed there, but we do not know their identity. Probably more pirates,” he lied. Technically, they didn’t know. Calling the base one of FUG’s by its appearance was just a hunch, and the so-called ‘Devil of the Right Arm’ might not have been who he said he was. But if Central thought he was here, they would no doubt send a fleet to attack the place. Maybe that was the best thing to happen. But he knew, also, that bringing more squadrons here would only mean trouble for them and the people of the planets they were shielding—for the unconquered tribes whose existence remained hidden, for the work camps that had been shut down. It was a risk that might not be worth it…depending on how much danger they all were really in.

“You have nothing else?” Maschenny seemed displeased. “No details from the scouts?”

Aguero paused, his countenance grim. “The scout…died on the mission.”

“But you have the feed from the observer, do you not?”

“We didn’t send the observer inside with him. They had some security; it was too much of a risk at getting him caught. The observers we have aren’t exactly the smallest or most silent.” He tried to smile lightly, but he wasn’t sure if it worked.

Maschenny shook her head and sighed. “You still have so much to learn. You knew he was probably going to die anyways; you should use the mission to get all you can out of it. Well, just send someone else, then. If you need more men, get some. Now, how about that painting? Any progress _there_ yet?” she asked testily.

Aguero’s hands clenched underneath the table, but he fought hard to just keep his expression blank. Nothing else, just blank. “We’re working on it.”

Maschenny eyed him suspiciously. “Now, don’t be like that. It was just a scout. Honestly, you’ve been out there too long. You need to come back to Central sometime; with some training, you _could_ get promoted to somewhere besides that backwoods place you’re stationed at now. Unless you’re hiding from Kiseia, hmm?”

“No.” Aguero blinked. “Not at all.”

“We’ll see you soon, then. In the meantime, I expect better results the next time we speak.”

Her screen clicked off. Aguero didn’t move. He should. He should go back out there and talk to people, now that surely, the whole base had heard the news. He needed to go try to convince Shibisu to not blame himself, just like he had to convince a distraught Wangnan, years earlier. When he had to tell him that no, the ship was already half blown up, Bam was barely holding it together with his quintessence shield, even if he got distracted the moment Wangnan was shot, that was hardly his fault. He had to tell him that, while struggling to forget the moment he watched Bam fall and couldn’t help him, when he had to drag Wangnan, who he thought was dead, from the pilot’s seat just so he could regain control of the crashing ship.

The reality was, it was _his_ fault. Both times. He let Bam defend the ship on his own. He sent Hatz on a mission to die.

He promised himself, as he sat at his desk and tried to will his body to move, that next time, he would sacrifice himself first.

* * *

Jue Viole Grace was already struggling with his day before any of this happened. Now, he wasn’t sure what to do anymore. He wanted to protest. He wanted to stop someone, to tell them his piece, to let them know he refused to cooperate—this wasn’t part of the deal. But, he couldn’t.

He had been sitting silently through the meetings thus far, as they discussed plans to attack Central. It was a bold move, even for them. But it wasn’t like they would go straight to the palace. The attack was to send a message, to call out the king and the ten great family leaders. He didn’t know the purpose, exactly; he just knew that Viole was needed to be an attack dog. He was used to that, but he knew this time, he would be killing civilians—hundreds, if not thousands of them. He had killed many soldiers in the past, members of the army he technically was once a part of. But, this was different. He didn’t like it. A small part of him wanted to say something then, to question the sanctity of the plan, but he had learned a long time ago that Viole was not expected to speak. Not to them.

But all that was before the FUG base got infiltrated in the middle of the night. Before Hatz was caught and condemned to die a long, painful death. Now, Viole had to stop himself from trembling as he sat among the others again, listening to them plan as if nothing had happened.

It wasn’t supposed to be like this. After getting caught five years ago, he stayed and did what they said on the promise that FUG wouldn’t touch the 134th. He knew it was a selfish decision. He shouldn’t prioritize the lives of the few over the many others he killed by his own hands. He just had to convince himself he wasn’t that important: those people would have been attacked anyways, and anybody could have been a successful experiment. He didn’t matter.

“Viole? Viole!”

He looked up slightly, letting his long hair obscure his eyes. He realized he wasn’t paying attention to whatever it was they were saying. “Yes?”

“You’re dismissed.”

Viole mutely got up and walked away. His feet took him towards the holding cells, but he stopped before he entered that hallway. He remembered the screaming. He never watched when people, mostly captured soldiers, were brought to the Workshop for the purpose of finding out how much their bodies could take. But he heard it.

“Going somewhere?” Hwaryun asked casually as she came walking down the hall to some destination of her own. She stopped in front of him, regarding him keenly in her one good eye, her bright red hair falling loosely about her shoulders.

Viole didn’t register any surprise at her appearance. “I think I’m going to go train,” he replied simply.

“You have a big task ahead of you,” Hwaryun noted as if in response. Viole wondered if, given her foresight, she somehow knew what he was thinking.

Viole nodded and turned to walk away, going in a direction as if the training hall was his first choice.

“You don’t want to do this mission, do you?”

Viole stopped in his tracks. His heart pounded. Was it obvious? Or did Hwaryun just know because she was Hwaryun? Did it matter? He never was quite sure. Hwaryun was one of few who really seemed to get him, so to speak. She listened whenever he wanted to talk. She didn’t judge him for his failures. But still, her loyalties were always obvious. She would do anything if the elders of FUG dictated it. She wanted him to be one of them, and she talked of Viole as if he was supposed to be some kind of savior in spite of how unimportant he was. Would she tell on him if he was unhappy?

“You still think about things in terms of ‘right’ and ‘wrong,’” Hwaryun continued when Viole didn’t say anything, speaking calmly. “I don’t think that exists like you think it does. I know you must hate me, for knowing more about your path than you do and not telling you, but I can tell you at least that this is part of that path, too.”

“I don’t hate you,” Viole responded softly, not turning around to look at her lest she register the conflict in his face.

She paused for a moment. “You can still be strong, like the person Ha Jinsung saw in you.” The sound of steps told him she was beginning to walk back the way she came. “Go prepare yourself as much as you need.”

Viole went to the training hall like he said he would, finding a room that was empty. He shot targets, practicing his quintessence control, but he did it absentmindedly. All the thoughts he could muster up were elsewhere. He missed Ha Jinsung. Hwaryun often made him think of him anyways, without her bringing him up. His old teacher was there at the beginning, at a time when he was struggling with his fate, at a time when he was still Bam, crying at night for the people he would never see again because he was too weak to cease to care. He was scared of being lonely again. For so many years of his life, he was alone, knowing little more about himself than his name. That changed when he met his friends. But, it wasn’t his destiny to keep them.

Jinsung trained him into being far stronger than he was at the start with a regiment that proved to be a hard and painful process, but he never seemed to see him as just an experiment or a soldier. He talked to him. He didn’t curse him for being weak. He encouraged him to get stronger, while still letting him think whatever he wanted to think.

Viole wasn’t sure that was the case, anymore. Even as he stood here now, concentrating a blast at his target and following with a spinning kick, his movements felt mechanical. It wasn’t creative, like his teacher would have wanted. It was just difficult when he knew his emotions were to blame. He tried, but he couldn’t get rid of them.

The hours passed by slowly. He ventured towards the Workshop, at one point, fearing that the worst had already happened, but it didn’t seem like they were doing anything right now. Probably, the coming raid on Central in five days had everyone distracted from their projects for the most part. It meant there might be time. But, time for what?

Viole’s mind kept going back to the layout of the base. He thought of where the Workshop was, and where the cells were, and where the hangars were. If you took a certain, albeit longer, route, the hangar could be on the way to the Workshop. He chewed this over as he barely touched his food that night. He told himself it wouldn’t work. He would only be making everything worse. _Just give up_. Give up the one person. If he was caught, he could get everyone else in danger in retaliation for his disobedience. But then, what was even the point? What did it mean for him to get stronger, if he couldn’t protect the one?

_“I can’t believe this. You_ stole _a ship of Jahad!?” Garam’s expression was a riddled mix of worry, shock, and exasperation. However, she didn’t make any move to send the young cadets away._

 _“Nope.” Khun responded with a satisfied grin, the kind he had whenever he had a plan and it was working. It honestly gave Bam more confidence just seeing it, like in spite of it all, they could do anything. “This is our ship. Or, more specifically, it’s the ship we’ve been training with for months, which a hapless, foolish group of cadets used to go after their missing comrade, Anaak, when she went mysteriously missing this very night. They didn’t immediately notice them gone because a certain weird alligator has been challenging random cadets to duels all night and they were distracted by the chaos. But, the cadets never found her. Little known to them, she was pursued by the assassin Lo Po Bia Ren, which ended in a_ very _dramatic fight, in which, because of his_ great _control of quintessence, he created a small black hole that consumed her. She died, but! He also died of his injuries and overexertion, soon after. The hapless cadets found nothing but warped space, and they went straight back to their base, to accept whatever punishment for taking a cruiser without permission that they might receive.”_

 _Garam, arms crossed, eyed them suspiciously. “Are you serious? And how did you get Lo Po Bia to make a_ black hole _, of all things?”_

_Khun shook his head. “He didn’t.”_

_Bam laughed nervously and shyly raised his hand. “Uh, I did!”_

_Garam blinked. “You’re kidding me.”_

_“He has skill,” Hatz noted matter-of-factly._

_“You’re all idiots,” Anaak groaned, leveling a glare at the rest of them that was strong in spite of her limp form, currently held in Endorsi’s arms._

_Garam shook her head, rubbing her temples. “Well, enough of that. You need medical attention—all of you. Just give me a second to fetch someone I can trust. Unless I should expect the galactic armada to come bursting in any second?”_

_“We’re sorry if something does happen!” Bam apologized in advance, although he was still very hopeful. “But, we think this will work! Because of the black hole, they won’t expect to find Anaak’s body.”_

_Garam narrowed her eyes. “Is that why your arms look like that? You could poison yourself with too much quintessence—you know that, right?” She asked accusingly, noting the black and purple scar-like marks lining his arms at present._

_“I overexerted myself,” Bam admitted. “But, I’ll be fine.”_

_“If anyone follows us, we’ll deal with it,” Hatz assured, although he too was injured from his and Endorsi’s fight with Ren. “We’ll take the blame for everything.”_

_Garam paused, and then broke into a small smile. “You kids really are crazy, you know that? All this just to save the one. Well, thank you.”_

Viole threw away the rest of his food and left the company of others before anyone could see him, talk to him, or ask him to do anything. He didn’t have time for that. Tonight, he was going to see if he had any crazy left in him.

Viole got a black cloth to tie around his face and cover his nose and mouth before he got there. He made sure that his long hair was positioned completely in front of his eyes so that they would be obscured, too. It would be best if Hatz discerned nothing from his face at all. He got to the cell door, registered the defiant glare from Hatz’s sharp dark eyes. Gratefully, he was looking better now than when Viole saw him last. He was still in the same bloodied gray shirt, but it looked like someone came to heal him, at least mostly. They would have wanted to have him in decent condition for whatever tests they were planning.

Viole used a borrowed keycard to let himself into the cell. He would have to apologize to Hwaryun later for using it in this way. He didn’t say anything as he got down and used a knife from his belt to cut the bindings on Hatz’s feet so he could walk, ignoring the fierce suspicion in his gaze. He would get the bindings on his hands behind his back later. For now, he grabbed his old friend by the shoulder, speaking only a brusque “come” in a voice much deeper than his natural one before leading him out of there.

It was late at night now, so hopefully, they wouldn’t run into anybody. If they did, Viole would just tell them that he was taking the prisoner to the Workshop and hope they didn’t fact-check him on that. Once they got to the hangar, Hatz should be okay. Viole would let him have one of the smaller ships, and he could be out of there before the alarm sounded. Surely, he wouldn’t be deemed important enough for them to pursue.

Viole could feel his heart pounding in his chest, but with his face covered, at least it wouldn’t show. He made him feel uneasy, as well, that Hatz wasn’t saying anything, neither to demand to know where he was going or even to express disdain at all. Then again, Hatz was never much for excessive communication. Maybe to his enemies, he just refused to have any words at all.

Viole wasn’t expecting the move when it came. Maybe, he should have. But he was too distracted focusing on the noises outside of the two of them, listening for any new footsteps that might sound in the currently empty hallway.

Next thing he knew, he was receiving a roundhouse kick to the gut.

Viole doubly over briefly in surprise before regaining himself to see that there was no one else here, but Hatz was back a few feet away from him, and he had his knife. In the seconds that Viole spent desperately trying to recalculate what he was about to do, Hatz had freed his hands on his own, and he was coming for him.

Viole dodged a strike from the knife, quickly dashing to the side, quintessence forming around his hands by instinct. He rounded back with a punch, but stopped short so that only the shockwave hit Hatz instead. Quickly, he tried to figure out what he was doing. Should he fight him? If Hatz ran away from him now, he could easily get caught. But if Viole tried to restrain him again or even just fight him at all, the noise could attract people over here and they could both get caught. Should he knock him out quickly? But then, he wouldn’t be able to pilot a ship! Should he bring him back and try again later? But then, they would tighten security if they thought he escaped on his own…

Hatz came at him with a strike towards his face, and Viole blocked it with his arm, letting the knife draw blood. “STOP!” he cried out, maybe a little more loudly than he should. He needed to talk to him somehow. Though he wasn’t sure what to say now.

Hatz’s expression was cold as ice. “You’re going to have to kill me now.”

Viole furrowed his brow in stress. “What?”

“I refuse to be of utility to you people,” Hatz continued, dead serious. “If you want to kill me, you’re going to have to do it right now. Fight me.”

_No, Hatz. Please don’t._

Viole was about to say something, but before he could think of what those words should be, he heard the sound of running footsteps. He froze. This wasn’t good. This wasn’t good at all.

“STOP RIGHT THERE!” A commanding voice sounded. In seconds, seven or so FUG soldiers showed up. Viole needed to handle—

_BANG BANG!_

Viole coughed blood before crumbling onto the cold floor, his vision blurred and his breath gone. _Stay conscious stay conscious._

“We’ll heal him later.”

* * *

_Earlier…_

Hatz knew, at this point, that he had messed up. It hurt to admit it. It infuriated him at some deep level to know that he was beaten as badly as he was, without getting hardly a scratch on his opponent, and it worried him to know that these people would be his friends’ problem next. He regretted that he couldn’t have done more. His only solace was that now, the others would at least have a better idea of what they were facing.

What was worse was that he wasn’t even dead yet. In those few seconds before he blacked out, when he knew that he had lost, he had made peace with knowing that he was going to die. At least, he thought he did. But then, to his initial surprise, they kept him around, and that just made it worse. He overheard what they said they wanted to do to him. It sounded like he was supposed to be the subject of an experiment of some sort, no doubt related to the lab he saw earlier. It was a gruesome thought in itself, even without being coupled with the knowledge that he might be utilized to create a weapon of some sort that would be used against others, in turn. That was the last thing he wanted. He didn’t want to be _useful_ to them at all.

He was left with far too many hours in the cell by himself without much hope of action he could take into his own hands. He examined the contents of it. It might be possible for him to get out of his bindings, if he tried hard enough, but there wasn’t a way to escape the cell afterwards that he could see. He had one solitary mattress in the room, but no bedsheets. But if he used the bindings…he could kill himself with it, if necessary. If it came down to this, he would have much rather ran himself through with a sword as opposed to something as grotesque as strangulation, but if he was going to die anyways, it might be an option he should consider. Although admittedly, the more time he spent here alone with his thoughts, the less he wanted to die. Maybe it was the sentimentality getting to him, the old memories running through his mind in his boredom. He thought of his squadron and of their days in training. He thought of making camp at night in the middle of some long mission on a strange planet, attempting to make something edible and struggling to sleep amidst the noise of someone arguing about bananas. He thought even as far back as home, of his younger siblings laughing as they tried to pick up a sword nearly as long as they were tall, while he watched them with a bemused smile and made sure they didn’t hurt themselves.

This was why Hatz would much rather just die in battle. He was thinking far too much.

When he heard the footsteps coming to his door, he realized it might actually be over, this time. Earlier, there was someone who had come by to heal him. It was a healing that worked suspiciously fast, the purple glow that accompanied it looking like some form of quintessence use. They healed his major injuries and left, although his body still ached and his cracked rib still produced a lot of pain if he touched it or moved too much. He supposed they just wanted him in good condition for whatever came next, and that ‘next’ was probably happening now.

The man who showed up at the door was someone Hatz recognized from being in the background of a group that was there that morning, except that this time, he had a black cloth covering his face. It was disconcerting, not being to read his expression at all. He had this crazy long hair in a ponytail that extended just past his waist, and the loose strands in front completely obscured his eyes. He wore a simple black kimono with a single knife held in the belt that he used to wordlessly cut the bindings on Hatz’s feet.

He wasn’t sure what was more demeaning: getting manhandled by this guy to make him walk down the hallway, or the fact that he was armed only with a dull short knife hardly worthy of cutting cucumbers. It was insulting. Granted, being able to walk, at least, made it a better experience than whatever happened last night, although then he was only conscious for half of it.

Hatz was led down a long, empty hallway. He wasn’t told where he was going, but he had a good idea. And he remembered that he wasn’t having it. He didn’t know where he was. Whatever route they were going, he didn’t have the luxury of exploring the night before. The chances of escape were slim. But, they did make the mistake of sending one solitary guy to get him. One guy who, at the moment, was avoiding looking at him, and who otherwise seemed distracted.

All Hatz needed was to get that knife. He didn’t have a game plan from there. But, he didn’t need one. He would be satisfied just getting this far and dying here if he had to.

He launched himself into the fight and surprised his captor. It was soon after that move that he realized why his opponent was so lightly armed. There was a glow about his hands, a particular glow he very distinctly recognized as quintessence, which he used in a blast against him.

There was exactly one person he knew who could directly control quintessence like that, not counting the demented sheep who tried to kill Anaak. It had just…been a while since he saw those moves. His fighting style was so similar.

The man tried to get him to stop, and Hatz said his piece. He wasn’t backing down here.

More people came in assistance. That was fine. He would fight them all.

_BANG BANG!_

There were two shots, but they weren’t directed at him. Hatz felt his eyes go wide in pure shock and something like horror as he saw the man before him crumble to the ground with two holes in his chest. His arm that held the knife faltered.

He saw his eyes. As the man fell to the floor, his hair parted, and he could see his eyes, wide as saucers and broken with pain. He pulled down the cloth masking him so he could breathe better, and for the first time, Hatz saw his whole face.

No. It couldn’t be? Could it? But his voice…his voice was just like his too—the one that yelled at him to stop, not the one that spoke back in the cell. It sounded just like him. And those wide golden eyes…they were the same. He was sure of it.

“We’ll heal him later,” the woman with the smoking gun callously remarked, speaking as if bored. Hatz narrowed his eyes. He recognized her as one of the ones who dragged him in last night, a tall woman with a tight platinum blonde bun and loud red lipstick. He thinks her partner called her “Apple.”

Hatz had questions. Lots of them. But for now, he’ll pretend he knew nothing. “How could you fire on your own comrade!?” he demanded, his grip on the knife tensed again and its tip directed their way. There were about seven people here. But, he might be able to handle it.

“He’s a bit of an errant,” she replied easily, her cold gaze directed at Bam. He was still conscious, but barely, his blood spilling freely onto the floor. Apple didn’t shoot him in any vital locations, just enough to bring him down. “It’s complicated; you wouldn’t understand. But, he wasn’t bringing you to the Workshop, from the looks of it. Our apologies: looks like we’ll have to kill you sooner rather than later.”

Apple fired at him, but Hatz dodged it, moving straight at her instead and landing an attack on her firing arm. He caught her by surprise. It didn’t cut well, but it hit.

The others came on him in an instance after. They were firing with guns, which was good for him, because that meant they were not prepared to do melee. He couldn’t deflect bullets like he could have with his sword, but he could cut down guns.

“GET HIM! TAKE HIS KNIFE!”

_POW!_

_BLICK!_

Hatz turned around briefly to see a disk-like quintessence shield hovering midair, and a bullet bounce and fall uselessly on the ground behind it. He looked and saw Bam with his hand out, holding the shield up from where he lay on the floor.

He heard the clatter of feet as reinforcements ran into the hallway. This was it, wasn’t it? And here he was left with yet another regret. He just didn’t know. Why did Bam hide his identity from him?

But there wasn’t time for thinking about it. Hatz wasn’t going to run away. He would stay here and defend the both of them until he died.

_HEHH-GRRRROOOAAR!_

The floor shook with sound. Hatz’s eyes widened in a brief moment of shock. The FUG soldiers seemed just as disoriented. What was _that_!? Was that a roar? He swore it sounded just like a lion.

“The hangar!” Someone shouted.

There was a lion in their hangar?

_POW POW POW!_

They started firing bullets at them again, and Bam quickly threw up another shield that encompassed them both. “Bam!” Hatz shouted, not caring enough to play ignorant anymore. “What was that!?”

“I don’t know!” he responded with a grunt as he made a move to try to get himself seated upright. Hatz held out a hand to help him, surprised the shield was still holding up.

**Get down here.**

Hatz blinked, looking around to try to see the source of the sound. Was that a voice? “Bam, did you hear that?”

“Hear what?”

**Downstairs. Now.**

He was hearing voices. Why? “Bam, do you think you can move?” he asked.

Bam paused a moment, breathing heavily. “I…I think there’s a way, but I don’t think I can hold up the shield at the same time.”

Hatz thought about it for a second. They would have plenty of pursuers. The chance of getting shot was high, especially with Bam being injured. But then, they might die here anyways…

“Okay.” He nodded to Bam. “I’ll hold them off.”

Bam released the shield and Hatz went flying. He took the knife as far as it would go, launching himself into midst of the attackers, although he feared his weapon might soon break.

“Hop on!” Bam yelled at him. Hatz turned around and was surprised yet again to see Bam crouching on a large quintessence disk hovering midair, looking much like his shield. That was new.

He jumped on and the disk zoomed. Hatz fought to keep his balance as they sailed through the hallway towards whatever destination they were headed for originally. “We’re going to the hangar!” Bam announced. That worked.

Bullets sailed past their heads, and there was little they could do except duck and swerve to avoid them. Soon, a wide-open area appeared before them, where a large number of people were assembled already.

It wasn’t them that they were firing at.

BOOM! BOOM!

Hatz looked up, and his breath was instantly taken away. He could hardly believe it. A giant red mechanical lion filled the open area, its every footstep resounding like thunder against the floor. It moved its neck and tail as a cat would while it walked. Bullets struck it, but they didn’t penetrate. It remained standing, its eyes glowing with bright yellow ferocity. 

Those same eyes seemed to turn and stare directly into his.

**Get in, cub. Now.**

Was that…was that voice really the lion? It was a machine. But it was looking at him. The voice was…reassuring, but slightly terrifying…it reminded him of his mother.

“Bam, we need to get to the lion. The mouth, I think.”

“Wh-what?” Bam questioned, clearly stunned.

“It’s a hunch.”

Bam seemed flustered and very doubtful, but he did it anyways. And when he did, the lion opened her jaws.

When they stepped inside the cockpit, and panels came to life on their own accord, or rather, by the lion’s. It made little sense. Hatz remembered a story like this, about these powerful lion-like robots from the old age when Jahad came to power—a team of five known as Voltron. He doubted this could be the same thing. But if it was, he would figure that out later.

For now, there was only one thing he knew: they were getting out of here.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ah, this is fun, re-imagining the Voltron story again. I really liked Legendary Defender way back when, although I was a little (lot) disappointed with how it ended. Still a fun concept.
> 
> But, I always enjoyed the concept of the lions being more sentient and talking to their 'cubs' in this way. So I'm gonna write it like that because I want to. So, surprise surprise, Hatz is Red! There really were a lot of candidates for the Red Lion in this group, but I liked the idea of it being Hatz, even if just because he reminds me of Keith in a way—straightforward swordsman with poor people skills. Not saying that Red has to be a swordsman, necessarily, but it's a thing. Mostly, it's his trustworthiness and more action-oriented style, Mr. 'who needs reconnaissance when I could just go up and threaten them' (like in the Last Station arc, lol)
> 
> If you have different idea of who should be what lion, feel free to roast me in the comment section down below ;)
> 
> That little bit about Hatz's family was inspired by a sketch from one of SIU's blogposts in which you see him with two younger siblings at home before he became a regular. They were adorable. Here's a link if you want: https://towerofgod.fandom.com/wiki/Vol.2_Ch.207:_39F_-_Hell_Train:_The_%27Name_Hunt%27_Station_(10)
> 
> I'll throw in some more of Anaak's backstory later, but as you can see, I kind of changed the situation and got everyone involved in her escape. Thus, she became everyone's gateway drug to rebellion against the empire in this story, ha ha. But I kept the Princesses of Jahad system in this world, so...same reasons.


	3. Next Time, Take Me with You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Red Lion has a delivery to make.

“Knock knock.”

Anaak heard the familiar voice as she was busy passively staring at the instrument panel, and she took a few seconds deciding whether to let Endorsi in or tell her to go away.

In the end, she decided on the former. “What do you want?” she replied testily as the other girl strode into the observation tower control room and sat in the chair beside her. “I’m working.”

Endorsi leaned her head in her hand and her elbow on the panel. “Anything interesting?” she asked with a bit of tiredness in her voice.

“No,” Anaak responded as she looked back at the largely blank radar. “Just the occasional flocks of birds from our atmosphere. I would _rather_ be looking at the feed from those drones right now if _someone_ wasn’t so attached to his observers.” Not that Shibisu didn’t technically have a point in that he was the one who knew the FUG base best and also the one who knew his machines best. It’s not like it was working for him, though. Apparently, there were a lot more soldiers stationed outside now, so the chance of detection was high. And for now, detection was something they were set on avoiding.

She hated it. She absolutely hated it, this waiting without doing anything.

Endorsi shrugged, looking at the wall. “Well, it’s getting late. I can take over, if you want.”

Anaak scoffed. “ _You’re_ the one who sounds tired. I’m fine. It’s not like I’m going to sleep tonight, anyways.”

There was a short moment of silence as neither of them made any move to say anything. Slowly, Anaak felt herself getting annoyed. “Why did you come here, really?” she asked harshly.

“I dunno.” Endorsi kept looking at the wall. “I just…wanted to see how you were doing, I guess.”

Anaak paused. Her fingers felt tense as they searched for something to do, some knob or button to fiddle with. Her tail jerkily swished side to side. Then, she exhaled and stopped. “I could ask you the same thing.”

Endorsi paused, and then she shrugged. “It happens,” she deflected, her voice callous in a way that made Anaak want to punch her square in the face, if she didn’t know that she didn’t mean it. She’s just known Endorsi for far too long. She knew her bullshit.

“That’s _seriously_ all you have to say?” Anaak questioned, as there was no way she was going to let her friend off the hook with something stupid like ‘it _happens_.’

Endorsi laughed—a short, bitter laugh that held no amusement at all. She leaned back in her chair and turned her attention to the ceiling, smiling ruefully. “You remember Stinging Cobra?” she changed the subject yet again, bringing the random pirate group from sector 45 to mind. “It took us so long to find their hideout. They moved so quickly, we were afraid they would run away on us again. Then we sent our genius scouts in there, and Hatz got himself caught in five minutes. He fought the entire base on his own before the rest of us got there.” She laughed a little, with more mirth this time. “Not that _I_ was complaining. I got to fight the captain one-on-one and cream him into the dust that day. But you were so upset, you challenged Hatz to a sparring match on the spot.”

“The jerk didn’t leave any for me,” Anaak remembered. Well, she _did_ beat him, so that was that. She had no idea why Endorsi brought up the story, though. It was hardly their most significant opponent. “So, is this supposed to make me feel better?”

Endorsi shrugged, still leaning back in the chair. “I don’t know. I guess I just thought we could do anything, that’s all.” She paused to exhale deeply. “But that’s what happens on missions: people die. It’s just been a while for us. But…that’s the way it works.” her expression turned gloomy, at that point, but she shook it off. “Anaak?” she questioned out of the blue. “Why did you come back? Or…why did you join the army in the first place, anyways?”

“Hmm?” Anaak’s eyebrows raised. Why was she asking her that _now_?

“I just wasn’t sure if I’ve ever asked you,” Endorsi responded simply. She was looking at her now, turning her attention from the ceiling and wall to address the side of her head.

Anaak took a deep breath, continuing to keep her eyes on the radar. “Well, the second time was obvious. I came back as soon as Khun became the one in charge. Some of the other guys were new to me, but I figured I could trust them with my non-existence well enough. The first?” She stopped for a second. It had been so long ago, not even she could remember what all was going through her young brain exactly. “I wanted to get stronger, I guess. Garam wouldn’t teach me how to fight. Well, she _did_ teach me things, but it wasn’t enough for me. She thought I needed more time or something, so I joined the training corps without telling her. It wasn’t like I really wanted to fight for Jahad. I just wanted to find the jerks who killed my parents and kill them. That’s all.”

“Sounds reckless,” Endorsi remarked lightly.

Anaak raised an eyebrow again. “You’re calling _me_ reckless?”

Endorsi laughed. “Well, okay, fine. But at least _I_ can back it up.”

Anaak leveled a death glare at the princess.

“And you can back it up too!” she backtracked. “I didn’t mean…ah, whatever.” She looked away. “So…do you still want to?”

“Do I want to what?”

“Kill those assassins?”

Anaak thought about it for a second. She never would forget that day—the terror, the angry voices, the fire consuming their home, the smile on her mother’s face as she waved goodbye for the last time. She didn’t even understand that it was the last time, yet. Her mom promised she would come back. She was expecting it. It was Garam who told her that her parents were dead. Garam didn’t tell her everything at first, but she wasn’t the type to let her blithely believe a lie, no matter how young she was.

She hated the people who did that to her. She hated Jahad for making this stupid system where princesses weren’t allowed to have children. She hated it that she had to hide—she changed her name, when she first enlisted, although she admittedly didn’t do much else. She wasn’t about to change her appearance just to keep up the ruse. Maybe she was expecting to get found out and die eventually. She wasn’t expecting anyone else to actually go so far to help her _not_ die. But what now? She hid on that planet with Garam— _again_ —because that’s what she had to do, and when the option opened up for her to rejoin the others, it was natural that she took it. But what was even her goal?

“I guess,” she grunted noncommittedly. It had a little less enthusiasm than she was expecting, but that’s just how it was. It wasn’t that she _wouldn’t_ fight them, but…she had to admit, she wasn’t exactly looking anymore.

“Interesting,” Endorsi responded cryptically. “Well…sorry for bringing it up. I was just thinking. I’m not really sure why I’m here either, so I thought I might as well ask.” She yawned. “How about we watch the radar together, hmm? Then we’ll keep each other awake.”

Anaak nodded, not sure whether the other girl was looking or not, but it didn’t matter. She knew both of them were not going to get any sleep tonight. Oddly enough, having her company without the talking part was relaxing, in a way. They didn’t need to talk for her to know that she had an ally if—when—the time to fight FUG again came. Anaak wasn’t there the first time, the battle when Bam died. It was just one of the many things she missed, the fights she couldn’t fight in. Even now, the whole ‘faking her death’ thing meant that she couldn’t fight as much as she wanted to. She wasn’t supposed to exist, so she wasn’t officially on the team, although she was still part of it.

It was these thoughts she was busy stewing on when Shibisu’s frantic voice came over the intercom in the middle of the night.

 _“SOMETHING HAPPENED AT THE FUG BASE!”_ he yelled with no context. Instantly, Anaak and Endorsi both were rendered fully awake.

“What!?” Endorsi took the mic from Anaak. “What do you mean!?”

Anaak snatched the mic back into her hands. “Is it something with Hatz!?”

 _“I don’t know!”_ he responded quickly. _“I haven’t been able to get close, and the mic on the observer isn’t great, so I didn’t realize, but there’s a hole in the side of their base—”_

“I’m sorry, a _hole_!?!?” Anaak wanted so badly to see what he was seeing.

 _“Yeah, it looks like the hangar, I think! Or it_ looked _like it, past tense, they, umm…the observer’s damaged. It got shot. I’m trying to be careful with the other one.”_

Anaak’s hands tensed around the mic. A hole in the hangar…could it be? Did Hatz actually escape that place? Would he get shot down? She needed details! “You think Hatz left in a ship? Did you see anything flying?”

 _“No—I missed it.”_ Shibisu sounded regretful. _“But…there’s a lot of activity in the sky, so he might have.”_

“Then get the drone back up there!”

The report that came back in the long minutes that followed were far from hopeful. Some of FUG’s ships had taken to space, and after a little while, they returned. There was wreckage of a few other spacecraft floating about in the area the drone saw. To whom did the wreckage belong? They had no way of knowing. They were just a little too late for that. Maybe it was just some other random enemy that came by. Maybe it was FUG’s own. Maybe it wasn’t.

The minutes kept dragging, and they turned into hours. Boro and Sachi left in a cruiser to go search the area as much as they could while keeping their distance from FUG. And now, there was a third entry into the observation tower—Khun’s.

“You two have been here all night. You got to sleep. I’ll take over.” There were bags under Khun’s eyes, and his voice was weak and slow compared to how it usually was. He was as big a hypocrite as any of them.

“You’re not fooling anyone,” Anaak countered. “You’re tired; I’m tired; she’s tired.” She pointed her thumb at Endorsi. “And like hell we’re going to sleep now.”

He looked at the ground with a rueful smile, running his hand through his disheveled mess of blue-white hair. “Someone’s gotta go down eventually.”

“Then fall, Earrings,” Anaak countered, not realizing until a second later that she had just used Hatz’s nickname for him. Stupid subconscious. She didn’t need this.

Khun paused with a quizzical look as if thinking of the same thing, but he avoided the topic. “I hate to say it, but we can’t keep this up,” he admitted. “We have nothing but speculation, but maybe if we prepare for—”

“SOMETHING’S THERE!”

Endorsi’s voice sounded loud enough to exit this room and wake up the guys in the bunks, assuming anyone was even there. Anaak almost jumped out of her skin. Endorsi was staring at the radar. _The radar!?_

She shoved herself in front of Endorsi and saw a single red light, way too close to their planet for them to just be looking at the screen a second ago. Did they not notice it coming somehow? Did it have a warp drive? Who was it?

Khun appeared at their side in an instant, looking at the feed as well, “Someone’s there,” he repeated, his voice sounding like an exhale to a long-held breath. He turned and started to run back out the door. “Be careful!” he stopped to caution them. “We have no idea who that is!”

The dot was coming for them. Khun was no doubt readying the defenses. Anaak’s attention was turned to their communications. The subject of the dot wasn’t talking to them. Could it be…? No. No way. She wasn’t getting her hopes up. It could be hostile. It…

_“Hello? Hello, is anyone there?”_

Anaak’s breath caught. She stared at the speaker. Was it really? The static from the feed made it fuzzy, but…

“Hatz!” Endorsi snatched the mic from Anaak for the second time that night, also hurriedly grabbing an earpiece to stick in so she could hear better. “Is that you!? Give me your status!”

_“I’m fine. I don’t think we were followed.”_

Anaak’s eyebrows shot up, and she exchanged a bewildered glance with Endorsi. ‘We’!? What the heck was he talking about with a ‘ _we’_!?

_“I could wait to land to make sure. But I have an injured—”_

“Shut up and land, you dingus!” Endorsi barked back at him before he could finish.

“What she said!” Anaak added automatically, a bit irritated that Endorsi took her mic when this was _her_ post to begin with but the other part of her honestly didn’t even care.

_“Okay.”_

It was him. That was his voice. But…could it be a trick? Whatever, they’ll figure it out.

They both left for the outside. What they saw coming in…you know what, Anaak didn’t care. She had too many questions already and no flips left to give. If that was a giant red mechanical lion, it was a giant red mechanical lion.

“Voltron?” Endorsi questioned, her eyes wide and voice small.

Anaak wasn’t unpacking that right now.

The lion lowered its head and let them out. ‘Them,’ because Hatz came out carrying this other guy, someone that Anaak was sure, at first, she had never seen before. She had no idea why he was there. She just knew he looked to be bleeding.

“Bam needs healing!”

Wait… _what_!? Bam!? Did he just say _Bam_!?

Anaak was on the ground and by them in an instant. So was Endorsi, and so was Khun. And so was Shibisu, running across the clearing at full speed. “Hatz! Hatz, is that you!?”

Anaak forgot what she was supposed to be doing right then. Helping? Telling everybody? Neither of them looked to be in good shape. But it was Hatz. That was him, without a doubt, right there—but Bam? No…that was impossible. This kid had hair to his knees; there was no way; Hatz hit his head or something; or maybe _she_ hit her head and she was dreaming this entire exchange…

“Khun.” Bam’s voice was hoarse, his eyes glazed like his consciousness could slip at any second. Hatz set him gently down on the ground.

One look at Khun told her that Bam wasn’t the only one ready to pass out.

“Hatz! You’re—I’m getting Goseng!” Endorsi announced in flustered tones unusual for her as she got out her comm to make the call. “Don’t move—don’t, don’t anything!”

Anaak breathed out for the first time in what felt like hours. Her mind forgot about everything else—about sleep, about her questions, about her doubts. They were alive. Those jerks were alive. She’ll slap them for dying later.

The tears came unexpected, and she blamed her stress. But, she didn’t even care anymore. “Next time,” her voice sounded out loud, but she didn’t know if they were listening, because she wasn’t watching. She closed her eyes and her shoulders shuddered. “Next time you pull an idiot move like that, bring me with you.”

* * *

They were alive. _He_ was alive.

Aguero’s throat, for a moment, went completely dry. Everything was happening too fast; his brain couldn’t keep up. He stopped himself when his body urged him to move because he needed to think through all the ways this could be wrong, all the ways this could be a terrible, terrible trick. It could be not them at all. He thought of every known possibility—shape shifter, clone, illusion? Or he was the one that was delusional. He could be not awake at all.

Bam smiled at him from where he sat on the ground, leaning limply against the lion’s paw, his breathing heavy. His kimono was wet and matted with blood at his chest and stomach, his sash-belt retied around him as if to provide pressure to where the wound must be. His golden eyes were weak and pained, but they were unmistakable, because there was no way in hell that Aguero could have ever let himself forget them.

“Bam?” he breathed, hands trembling, fighting the fear that if he made one wrong move, Bam would disappear forever.

“I…”

Bam started to say something, but he didn’t get a chance to finish, because that was the moment Aguero decided that reason be damned. In an instant he was on the ground with him, pulling his friend who was here— _he was here, he was real, he was alive_ —into an embrace, because there was no way he was letting go. Except, he had to let go. He would hurt him.

“Are you okay!?” he asked immediately upon releasing him, looking into his eyes as if he could discern more if he did so.

“I’m fine!” Bam laughed—a weak laugh that turned into a cough as soon as it came, but he was smiling nonetheless. “I just got shot, but it’s nothing vital. I’ll be fine.”

He just got _shot_!? He just—well, that was it, Khun was going to pass out right here and now. Where was Goseng!?

“I’m fine!” As if in echo, he heard Hatz’s insistent voice in the background and turned his gaze to see him slightly backing away from Endorsi, who was currently experiencing a very wide range of emotions written like a book all over her face.

“I’m glad you’re fine!” she yelled angrily. “You know what would have also been great!? If you had tried to contact us _sooner_!”

“I might have been intercepted!”

“Oh, so _now_ you care about secrecy!?”

“But it’s okay now!” Shibisu interrupted, his hand on both of their shoulders and his eyes watering unhindered. “You’re…you’re here.”

Aguero was relieved that Hatz sounded okay, as well. The dried blood that caked his shirt might tell another story, but they had time.

“I’m here!”

Goseng announced her presence, and Aguero breathed a sigh of relief. She came, panting, to where Aguero was still on the ground beside Bam. “Wait, who is…?”

“We’ll explain later,” Aguero assured, feeling too tired to say anything else. Goseng had been here only three years (Aguero had no idea how they survived before that); she didn’t know Bam. Gratefully, despite looking confused, she nodded, the pale hints of the soon-to-be morning sun glinting off her glasses.

“Okay, can you help me get him onto the stretcher?” she asked.

Aguero nodded, moving to gingerly wrap his hand around Bam’s back to support him. Bam took his hand and gripped it tight. Startled, Aguero quickly looked back to Bam’s face, wondering if anything was wrong, but…he looked happy. This whole time, he had been smiling, and Aguero didn’t know what to do with that. He didn’t know whether to be glad or worry that he was going delirious. How long has he been bleeding out? How has he managed to stay awake? Was he really going to be fine?

“I’m…I’m really happy…to see you again.” He blinked slowly, his eyes glazing over as they placed him on the stretcher. Aguero didn’t let go of his hand.

“Hold on, Bam!” He kept holding on, and he turned to the others, to Hatz, Endorsi, Shibisu, and Anaak talking rapid-fire to each other and glancing frequently at Bam. “Hatz, can you walk okay!?”

“Yeah.”

“Then follow us to the med bay. We’ll handle the lion later. The rest of us will help Goseng treat you two. And we need to tell the others.”

At least, that’s what Aguero intended. He had every bit thought he would go back with them, do everything he could, stay as long as he needed. But, fate said otherwise. He should have known it would refuse to let them off this easy.

“Guys!” Ehwa yelled from a distance away. Everyone stopped to see she and Wangnan booking it towards them, and the frantic looks on their faces told him in an instant that something was wrong.

“Wh-What is it!?” Shibisu called back, catching their worried tone like a contagion.

Ehwa used a burst of fire to propel herself forward and skidded to a stop in front of them. “People from Maschenny’s division are on their way for an inspection!!!”

“WHAT!?” More than one voice sounded simultaneously.

Aguero’s whole body tensed in a matter of seconds. No, not now. Why the heck was it _now_!? “Announced or unannounced!?” he demanded to know, because that was the quickest question he could ask.

“Announced!” Ehwa answered. “She made a call! It was for you, but I’m sorry, I took it since—!”

That didn’t matter. “What did she say?”

“Well, first she said ‘who the hell are you’ but then she just said they were on their way for an inspection and we need to be ready within an hour! She didn’t tell me why! I mean, I didn’t ask, but—!”

“You did fine,” Aguero interrupted again, taking a deep, albeit terse, breath. He squeezed Bam’s hand one more time before releasing it. He wished he had more time, but that was a luxury they weren’t going to have. He needed to act, and fast.

“Anaak, help Goseng take Bam to the med bay, and when you get there, stay there.” His voice was tense but steady as he gave the order. He turned to Hatz. “Hatz, I’m really sorry to ask this of you. Can you fly that lion again?”

“Yes.”

“Good. Shibisu, is there any place in the hangar big enough to hide that thing?” He asked, not because he didn’t know their hangar as well as the rest of them, but because he needed some quick ideas to make something work that wasn’t going to work with the normal options. He knew there wasn’t room—not if they wanted to hide it. If only Voltron lions weren’t so ridiculously huge.

“Ummm…ahhh…the workshop!” Shibisu concluded, the light coming on in his eyes. “The hangar’s basement where we store and work on all those parts! It has a high ceiling! The lion might have to, like, lay down or something—can it lay down?” he asked Hatz. “Still, the entrance is far from wide enough…” he started to explain, but one look between him and Aguero told him that Shibisu was already thinking exactly what he was thinking.

“Then make it wide enough.” Khun smirked. “We’ll deal with the damage later. Wangnan and Ehwa, you help him with that. Endorsi, you’re with me. Get ready to stall the fool out of whatever poor sap our dear commanding officer sent to check on us.”

“Aye, Aye.” Endorsi grinned in response with a mocking salute.

Aguero looked up for a moment, taking into account the giant red lion looming over them all as they spoke. He didn’t have time to think about that, when they first got here. Bam and Hatz’s appearance took precedence by a landslide, even to a circumstance as bizarre and impossible as them showing up in a _Voltron lion_ , of all things. A Voltron lion that was flown by them, and since Bam appeared to be in no state to fly an aircraft, he could only assume that meant Hatz was the pilot. He wondered if Hatz even knew what that meant.

Aguero couldn’t let Maschenny know. He couldn’t let Central know. That would mean disaster—he was sure of it. Until he knew exactly what was going on, they would know nothing.

* * *

Aguero should have learned to expect the unexpected by now. These past few days have been nothing but a flurry of it, and while seeing Bam and Hatz alive was the happiest he had ever been being wrong, this particular surprise was far, far less welcome.

Just as he remembered it, his half-sister had an air of regalia about her that could make even the ants stop to pay their respects. She was a queen with ice-blue hair and a dark blue cape to match, which someone fit with the rest of her military uniform perfectly. She was a little out of place in a base in the middle of nowhere, and yet, she didn’t seem to particularly care.

“I must say, General, when they told me you were coming, I didn’t think _you_ would be coming personally,” Aguero remarked with a casual tone as they walked across the clearing. Princess Maschenny Jahad walked beside him, just a few steps ahead, with her eyes more preoccupied with coolly regarding the buildings around them than with looking at Aguero himself.

Aguero glanced back at Endorsi, still walking with them. They had managed to buy a lot of time. Endorsi had the good idea to let looking at the maps be the first thing they did—being stationed on a fringe territory, map-making of the universe was a key job they were expected to do—which gave them plenty to talk about in the longest way possible without being too obvious. Endorsi acted confident, and so did Aguero. But he had a terrible feeling, the whole time. Maschenny was less than interested, and even with her and her guard being preoccupied, the other men she brought with her could be anywhere on their base. Aguero couldn’t trust not being able to see them.

Now, Maschenny insisted on seeing the hangar.

“And I didn’t think that I would be announcing my arrival to an insignificant subordinate,” Maschenny replied coolly, deftly deflecting the question of why she graced them with her presence.

“Well, Yeon Ehwa is a member of one of the ten noble families, didn’t you know?” Aguero knew how to speak her language. “It’s natural that I would trust her with these matters in my absence.”

“Then give her a rank,” Maschenny countered, not missing a beat. “Except, you cannot do that—they would need additional training in Central, but you haven’t sent anyone to Central since you were given charge of this base, haven’t you? Determined to keep your people down with your own poor ambitions.”

Aguero seethed but fought not to say anything. Poor ambitions!? He would show her ‘poor ambitions’! He would change this place from the inside out, or he would die in the process. She had no idea what his ‘ambitions’ were. She didn’t know he had spent years stacking the deck in his favor, to make a team full of people who would be loyal, who had the same mindset and the same willingness to defy the Empire that he did.

A team that, right now, was just focused on surviving. Aguero exhaled. He wouldn’t have gotten this far without the people he started with—he knew that. And he didn’t really have any goals aside from keeping those people alive. That was especially true now, with Bam coming back. He may not know how that was possible, but he did know he wasn’t losing him a second time.

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Aguero replied noncommittedly.

They arrived at the hangar and Aguero’s tension rose. However, he spotted Shibisu upon entering, catching his eye from around a corner, and he gave a slight but confident smile and nod when Maschenny and her guard weren’t watching. That meant they hid the lion, then. Aguero released a held breath.

“That one’s our best battleship, the Flaming Fish! The laser cannon’s still in peak condition; do you want to look at it?” Endorsi was giving her best act of cordiality as she addressed Maschenny as if giving a tour. Well, it _was_ supposed an inspection, anyways.

“The hull is damaged,” Maschenny pointed out.

“Yes!” Endorsi didn’t miss a beat, but Aguero could tell her smile was forced. “And that’s why funding would be appreciated, General!”

“I believe it’s the duty of your squadron to upkeep the ships.”

Well, Maschenny could criticize the entire fleet, for all Aguero cared. That was a later problem. At the moment, his brain was too busy turning over the events of earlier that morning. He needed to know what happened. All he knew was that the night before last, Hatz went dark in a FUG base that was far too close to their own for them to not realize it existed, and that he came back with the Red Lion and with Bam, whom they lost in their last fight with FUG five years earlier. So what happened to Hatz in between now and when he destroyed his earpiece? How did he find Bam? The fact that it was FUG both times…it left a terrible feeling in the pit of Aguero’s stomach. Bam had been alive, all this time. Did that mean that ever since then, it was FUG that had him? But why? What did they want with him? It made no sense to keep a prisoner of war and not announce it. There had to be something else.

Was it true that, all this time, Bam had really been _that_ close? And they did nothing to help him?

Aguero needed to be there. He wasn’t going to pester either of them with questions, as much as he burned with the need to know. He just wanted to be there.

“Running a blood bank?” Maschenny asked casually.

The question caught both Aguero and Endorsi completely off guard. “What?” Aguero blinked, looking around to try to see whatever it was she was talking about.

She pointed to Wangnan, who was at a distance away just walking by, but upon realizing he was being pointed out, froze in his tracks, flustered. “He has a narrow bandage around his upper left arm with a single wad of cotton underneath,” she responded, her tone acting as if it was of little consequence. “Either his injury was a very precisely placed puncture wound, or your soldier just had blood taken from him.”

Why? Why was she like this? Aguero tensed even though that information alone revealed nothing. _Bam_. Goseng must have done a blood transfusion. “Does it hurt to be prepared?” Aguero responded, talking with more confidence than he felt. “It’s not that strange to have blood on hand in case of an injury.”

Maschenny nodded. “Very well. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ve seen all that I have to see. We’ll be taking in your damaged ships for maintenance.”

Sorry… _what?_

“We…do our own maintenance!” Endorsi protested, confused.

“Not well enough. We’ll be taking your ships, as that was the purpose of this inspection. Your crew doesn’t have a designated engineer, so you will be assisted. Am I understood?”

Aguero narrowed his eyes. They had never done something like this before. Why now? What were they going after? He didn’t like it. “Yes, General.”

“Good. Your only mission now is to find that painter, or have you forgot? I doubt you’ll need your entire fleet for that.”

Aguero smiled coolly in reply. Yes, he would figure out exactly what was going on, and soon. “Whatever you say.”

* * *

Bam couldn’t believe that he was here. Everything that had happened before kept replaying like a warning in his mind, but everything that was here put him at complete ease—the bed he sat on in a med bay that didn’t smell like death, the warm colors on the walls, the friends that surrounded him, all alive and okay. It had to be a dream. Either this a dream, or everything else was just a nightmare; they couldn’t both be true at once. But, here he was.

“Move it, gator!”

“No! I want to stay with Black Turtle!”

Anaak moved to shove Rak off of his chair. “Khun’s asking for you! He says he needs your eyes or something.”

“The Blue Turtle should be here too!”

“I-It’s okay.” Bam laughed a little to put them at ease. “I can wait.”

“Hmm…”

“Come on, get!” Anaak had to drag him out.

Bam breathed out after they left, but it felt tense. His hand clutched the edge of his blanket subconsciously. He would be here. He would stay here, and he would be here for them.

But he also knew he never should have come. This wasn’t how it was supposed to happen. Viole never meant to leave as he did. That act alone meant he betrayed FUG, and he would be punished for it. Stealing the Red Lion made things even worse. But he didn’t even know…he had no idea they had the lion all this time. Where was it? Were they hiding it somewhere? Or…him? Her? The lion seemed…alive, maybe? Too alive to be an ‘it.’ He’d have to ask Hatz.

Hatz…Viole had underestimated him. When he made his plan, he wasn’t exactly thinking that he would try to escape before they got there. On one hand, he was just glad everything worked. He was glad he was somehow still alive. But…for how long? As long as Viole was with FUG, they wouldn’t attack this squadron. But now, with both Viole and Red here? They would attack the base for sure. His friends could die.

He had to leave before that happened. But…he didn’t want to. He just wouldn’t think about it. He would enjoy this moment while it lasted, without thinking about whatever he had to do afterwards.

“How are you feeling?”

Hatz walked in out of the blue, breaking Bam from his thoughts. “Hatz!” he greeted with a smile, not having seen him since they split earlier. He was wearing a fresh set of clothes now, the white of his bandages just visible beneath his shirt collar. Bam felt for him. Cassano must have dealt him a serious blow—Viole had a hard time fighting him, and he would do it as a ranged fighter. Taking on the Devil’s Right Arm at anything close to arm’s length seemed just impossible.

“I’m fine; what about you?” Bam answered by asking him the same thing. “How is the lion?”

“Red’s safe,” he responded with assurance. “We got her in storage, and a battleship is covering the hole in the floor. That, and the door to that room with the hole is bolted shut and hidden by spare boxes of picture frames, so they might not notice.”

“Uhhh…” Was that a good idea? He had him until the picture frames. Please let it not be an obviously hidden door… “That sounds good.” It was probably fine.

Hatz nodded and moved to sit down where Rak once was. He was quiet for a moment. Bam looked at him curiously and saw that his expression had turned hard and anxious, his eyebrows furrowed like he was instantly mulling something over in his mind. Bam felt the dread hit him the moment he realized, when he could feel it in the air, just what he was about to say. And he wasn’t ready. He needed to leave.

“Bam,” Hatz addressed soberly, his dark eyes not harsh, but intent, all the same, “why did you hide your identity from me?”

He didn’t beat around the bush. From Hatz, he expected nothing less. Viole took a slow breath, his eyes staring at nothing. He expected to feel more panicked at being asked to explain. But…it was a fair question. He just wasn’t sure how much he should say. “It would have complicated things,” he answered softly, simply.

Understandably, Hatz appeared no less troubled. His eyes narrowed at the ground. “You thought I would give you away.”

“No, not that!” Bam interjected quickly. Well, admittedly, that was one of the things floating through his mind, but he didn’t want Hatz to think he had no confidence in him, or even just didn’t trust him. “I do trust you, it’s just…” he trailed off for a moment, taking another breath. On one hand, he was glad for the chance to talk to Hatz alone. He was the only other one now who had seen a glimpse of the inside of FUG, and he really needed to talk through what happened eventually. On the other hand, he wished that more people were here, so he didn’t have to talk through this more than once. Especially, he wished that Khun were here. He needed to talk to him, about everything—admittedly, more than he wanted to share right now. Was it because he thought Khun might understand, if only a little? He felt dread at the thought of what Hatz would think if he explained the whole thing. Would he think of him as a traitor, for fighting with FUG? A monster for what he became, for what he could now do? He knew Hatz. He would sooner die than make the deal Viole made.

Maybe he really didn’t want to talk to anybody at all. But, he had to try. He took another breath and spoke slowly and deliberately. “My plan, last night, was to bring you to the hangar and let you escape in one of the cruisers. I…I wasn’t planning on coming with you. But if you knew who I was, you might not have let me do that. That’s the reason.”

Hatz’s expression morphed from worry to a combination of that and hurt. “Why not?”

“Retaliation,” Viole responded easily, although he was sure to choose his words carefully. He didn’t need to say everything for it to still make sense. “I would be inviting FUG to your doorstep if I left. Honestly…that’s probably the case right now, too. They would come after me.”

“But why?” Hatz pressed. “I don’t get it. How did you end up there in the first place? We saw—”

“The blood?” Viole finished for him, his smile light but bitter. Yes, he remembered that day, and he could imagine what his friends thought of what they saw. At this point, he might as well explain. “They threw grinded meat on the ground for the wild animals to get. But, they rescued me by stopping the fall just before I hit the ground. I mean, I guess ‘rescue’ is a strong word.” He laughed a little, although it was mirthless. He knew it, as it was happening, what they were doing. After being shot of the ship and falling a thousand feet or more, his friends would assume he was dead, but if they tried to find the body, they wouldn’t, because it would look like the animals ate him, with only smeared traces left behind, just enough so that they wouldn’t think he might not have ever hit the ground there.

He paused just a moment before continuing, his eyes glazed over as he remembered. “I was in a cell for several days, and no one talked to me. Then, they brought me out for doing tests, and that went on for many days. Then, I was given the chance to leave that place.” His smile turned more genuine. “I got a teacher. He didn’t tell me everything, but, he explained that FUG wanted me to fight for them.”

Viole stopped again, then, the words that should come next failing him. He wanted to find a good way to explain. Maybe he wanted to make excuses. He only wanted to protect his friends—beyond that, there wasn’t much he was fighting for. He didn’t think he could ever feel much loyalty to the Empire of Jahad. So much of his time in FUG was a nightmare, but even so, there were people he cared about in there, too. At least, Ha Jinsung and Hwaryun. But, what was he going to do about all this now?

“I’m sorry,” he uttered finally. There was no excuse. He looked up to see Hatz again—he seemed troubled still. And confused.

“But why?” he asked. “Why you?”

He blinked. “I…don’t know, actually.” Viole forgot that was a question he should ask, although in the beginning, he certainly wondered all the time. “It might be because I can control quintessence?” It was a rare trait, so he was told. “I guess you saw…the Workshop’s has been doing a lot of research with that.” They’ve had that stockpile as long as he’s known. Using quintessence directly…it was effective, he’ll admit. Even now, he couldn’t help but remember how using those techniques, injuries like his gunshot wounds could be gone in ten minutes, although probably with scarring. But there was a dark side. Much of what FUG had was stolen from the forces of Jahad. But other than that, and where Jahad would have gotten it in the first place…it came from people and from planets. It was their life force. So when it was stolen…

Hatz nodded slowly. “All the time…” he spoke as if talking to himself, as if his mind was berating itself for past failings. “…you were right there? On that planet?”

“The planet moves,” Viole explained. “They have warp space technology. They move the whole planet through a wormhole every so often.”

“I…guess that makes sense.”

“Yeah.” Viole nodded.

“You were a soldier of FUG.”

“Yes.”

Viole braced himself for what would come next. Being berated? Cursed? In the end, it was his own fault for not being strong enough to change his fate. He thought he was doing this deliberately, making a deal because that’s what it took to protect the ones he cared about. But thinking back, he wasn’t sure he ever remembered the part when he was given the choice.

“I’m sorry we weren’t there to save you sooner.”

Viole blinked, momentarily stunned. He looked at Hatz again. He was gazing at the floor, the regret written like an open book across his face. He…no, this wasn’t right. Wasn’t he supposed to be mad?

“It’s okay…you wouldn’t have been able to do anything.”

There it was. There was the anger. Viole saw it coming the moment he finished saying that.

“You think we’re incapable.” Hatz’s eyes narrowed.

“N-no! It’s not that! But they—”

“We would have done it.” Hatz was earnest. “If we had known, we would have come.”

 _That’s the problem_. “No.” Viole shook his head, his voice firm. “Don’t you understand? I’m not asking for you to put yourselves in danger. Someone could die. _You_ could have died, yesterday! Look, I…I don’t have anything. I don’t have family, like you do. I don’t even have goals. All I wanted was for you guys to live! That’s it! You all have a life here, and Khun has aspirations, too, and—”

“Khun would be the first person to go after you and you know it.”

“I know that!” _Why didn’t he get it!?_ “That’s why I couldn’t stand for you to _know_!”

“It broke him.” Hatz was serious. His eyes didn’t graze the ground or the wall anymore. They looked at Bam squarely and stayed there. “Khun thought it was his fault.”

“It wasn’t.” Viole shook his head, but now, his voice was shaking. Why? He couldn’t talk about this. He…he hadn’t talked to anyone about anything, in a long time. Not freely. How did he do this? And yet, as hard as it was, it was easier than it should have been. “Even if I died, it’s not Khun’s fault. It…it happens. It’s war.”

“Then why let him think you’re gone?”

He didn’t want to. He really didn’t. But wasn’t that the easiest thing for everyone?

He remembered back when he met them all the first time. He had no idea what he was doing. He was weak and naïve compared to the rest of them, trying to navigate a world he knew nothing about. Khun was the first to reach out his hand, to make him feel worthwhile. Slowly, the rest of them came around too. Although some were aloof at first, Bam wasn’t bothered at all. He was eager to get to know them. He was so hopeful—what was he hopeful about, again? He forgot. Maybe he didn’t know in the first place. All his life up to that point, he knew nothing but the rock he lived on. For as long as he could remember, he lived alone on a small, barren planet without a name. He supposed he must have been amnesiac, unless he spawned somehow as a half-grown child. He knew human speech, and he always had this awareness, like he was waiting for someone, but he didn’t know for who. In that place it was just him and the creatures who lived there, eventually making friends with some of those animals who were always trying to eat him.

Then Yuri came. She and Evan had come to investigate that big, strange spacial distortion in the sky that had always been there, and they found him. They were really nice and took him home with them. Eventually, he knew he had to do something, because he would feel bad taking advantage of Yuri’s hospitality forever, so he joined the army. It was a bit of an odd jump, looking back at it, but at the time, he was confident, and eager to meet new people. The world was big and beautiful to him. And he did go through hardships, but for those first few years, he had his friends by his side for it…he could do anything.

He didn’t feel much like that Bam anymore. Honestly, he hardly felt like ‘Bam’ at all. Bam was a normal person, a good person. Viole wasn’t. Now, being in his old home, hearing people call him by his old name—it felt strange and a little wrong. But…it wasn’t unwelcome. He wanted to be here. He wanted to be with them so badly, it hurt.

“I’m sorry,” Hatz spoke up again, after Viole declined to say anything.

“What?”

“I’m hounding you, I think.” Hatz’s expression turned awkward as he scratched the back of his neck. “Shibisu says I have no tact, whatever that means.”

Bam smiled in spite of himself. “It’s fine.” He laughed a little, fighting to relieve the tension in his shoulders. “I can always get a real therapist later,” he joked. As if _that_ would ever happen.

“Just…promise you’ll let us fight with you this time?”

Bam blinked rapidly. “I…uhh…y-yes. Yes.” What did that mean? What did he just agree to!?

Hatz nodded, appearing satisfied, somehow. “It’s good to have you back.”

It was at that moment, as if on cue, that Bam heard the voices in the hallway. A few of them. Suddenly, his door swung open.

“Bam!” Khun greeted as he appeared in the room. He looked like he had been running, and there was tension everywhere in his movements, but Bam wouldn’t mention it. “Oh, both of you are here! How are you? Are you okay? I don’t see Goseng!”

Bam smiled and laughed. “I’m fine! What about you, Hatz?”

Hatz waved his hand as if the question were inconsequential. “Yeah, of course.”

“ _I_ am going to _murder_ that woman!” Endorsi’s angry voice sounded from the hallway. “Who does she think she is!? She treats us like idiots! Taking the ships for maintenance, why I…” She trailed off as she appeared into the room after Khun. “Are you two okay!?”

Bam laughed nervously. “Yeah!” But what was she just talking about…?

“Well, that’s good, I would have killed you a second time if you died on us.” Anaak strode into the room after them, her voice unamused.

“TURTLES!” Rak pushed past all of them.

“You’re crowding them!” Goseng appeared through the doorway in the back, slightly cross, glancing backwards at Shibisu still in the hallway.

“It’s not a problem,” Bam assured, glancing back at Hatz to see him nodding in agreement. “It’s fine…really. I’m doing a lot better.” He knew he needed time, but he should be okay by tomorrow, at least. The Thorn did speed up his healing process, after all.

Goseng relented at that. Bam felt himself relax, the tension leaving him as he brushed his hair behind his ears and let himself just see them all. It was a relief to know they were here, that the people he left behind were still alive and they were happy. So he let himself forget again. Let this be reality, and everything else just a nightmare. He’ll deal with the nightmare later, one way or another.

For now, he’ll let himself believe them when they said they would never let him go again.

* * *

_The next day, in another place…_

“Hockney! We have to leave! Right now!”

Hockney groggily opened his eyes, stretching his shoulders a little as he came to the unfortunate realization that he had fallen asleep in a weird position. He leaned forward, his sketchbook still in his lap, and turned to face Mata.

Mata looked like he was panicking. His hair was even more disheveled than usual. What was there to panic about again? “Why?” Hockney asked in a half-sleep mumble.

“JAHAD, THAT’S WHY!” Mata got up close to Hockney and shook him by the shoulders. “I just saw of the military’s ships landing nearby! We must go!”

Hockney took a look around him. They were inside Manyleg, at the moment. Mata’s pet giant centipede was resting right now, but the point was, they were inside the _throat_. Completely invisible to the outside world. “I think we’re fine.”

“B-but—!”

“Where would we go anyways?” Hockney countered with a shrug. He took a deep breath. He could sense their presence, now that he was awake. They were outsiders—they exactly didn’t blend in. But with that, he remembered exactly why Mata was panicking, why even now, he looked very worried.

Hockney had no idea what to do about that, though. He knew his painting was the problem. Should he have just let the governor have it? No, he couldn’t do that. The governor was being rude. Truth be told, he had no idea what the problem was, because he had no idea what he painted. It wasn’t exactly something he had seen himself. It was just one of those visions again. He saw it; he painted it. Simple as that. But maybe it was just another curse these eyes gave him.

“You could bring me to the caves just south of here,” Hockney suggested. “I can hide there on my own.”

“Oh no, not that.” Mata shook his head firmly. “Where we go, we go together.”

Hockney sighed. “This isn’t your problem, though.” Were they really in danger, now? It seemed like a lot of fuss over one painting. It was a full two weeks after it was finished and put to the side that somehow, word got around and they were telling him to hand it over. They weren’t even going to pay him for it. They just said to give it.

He was mostly unconcerned with the matter after that, besides the fact that he did leave home, just in case…but he did have a bad feeling. He just hoped Mata wouldn’t be caught in the crossfire if the army really was that crazy to go after him or something.

Mata grinned broadly, his glasses glinting in the lantern light. “Nope, we’re together in this, and I got a plan! I’ll go wake up Manyleg! We’re about to go full steam ahead to not-here, so hang on tight!”

Hockney gave a brief, small smile in return. “Okay.” That sounded good enough for him. Outsiders like those army people wouldn’t know where to look for them, anyways.

* * *

Turns out, they knew where to look for them. Did someone tell them? Hockney blamed Joe.

“Alright, you’re surrounded! You can come out now!” A voice called up to them, although it surprisingly didn’t sound that angry or demanding at all, just tired.

“What Khun means to say is, we’re not going to hurt you!”

Hockney peered down at them from where Manyleg’s mouth had opened slightly. They had no hope of moving, as it was. Manyleg’s legs were wrapped and locked down with these huge golden thorny vines. Though Manyleg squirmed under its grasp, he wasn’t able to break free. Hockney or Mata would have to come down to help.

He considered the young guy with the white-blue hair standing on the ground in front of Manyleg, the one the slightly older plain silver-haired man called ‘Khun.’ Someone from the Khun family? That could be problematic. Not that Hockney cared anything about nobility, but he heard they were supposed to be powerful. Ice and lightning and all that.

Hockney glanced back at Mata, who was frantically shaking his head and motioning for Hockney to retreat back into Manyleg’s throat. Hockney wasn’t sure that would help. If they really wanted him, they could easily just kill Manyleg right now. Actually, why didn’t they? Did they fear retaliation? And also, that wasn’t the only thing weird about them. None of them were in uniform, either. Maybe it was because of the planet Jug-eum’s cold climate, and they just really wanted to wear their coats instead of whatever else they had? Or were they trying to catch Hockney off guard?

“How did you find me?” He called out to ask from where he stood. They knew he was there. He might as well start talking.

“Garam told us you might be here!” That Khun guy shouted back to answer easily. Too easily. Hockney’s eyes widened a little. Garam? That couldn’t be right. He remembered meeting Garam a while back. They weren’t friends, but she didn’t seem like the type to just sell someone out, especially not to the army of Jahad. Khun had to be lying. “We just want to talk!”

Hockney considered them again, eyes narrowed. There were just five of them, that he could detect, and they weren’t about to make any sudden moves that he could see. They were unassuming enough: the Khun, the silver-haired man, this blond kid with a pointed tooth, this thin black-haired girl. And then there was the red-head guy with the vines. He did seem strong. But…Hockney might be able to take them. He just reminded himself that these people were probably from a local base, not Central. He didn’t know or care much about the empire’s military, but he did know that the strong, legendary people were always the ones closer to Central, or fighting the bigger wars. For these guys to be all the way out here, they were more likely the bottom of the barrel, so to speak.

“Okay.”

“Hockney, wait!” Mata tried to stop him. “You—”

“If I free Manyleg,” Hockney turned to him and spoke in a lower voice, his gaze serious. “Take that as the cue to run.”

He leaped out of Manyleg’s mouth and onto the ground below, his fishing pole and lantern strapped to his back, ready to be a weapon if the moment arose. All the while, he watched the soldiers closely, paying more attention to their future than their present. But they weren’t attacking him. They couldn’t be telling the truth, could they? Either way, they did seem fairly relaxed. That could be good or bad.

“What do you want?” His eyes continued to scan the group warily.

“Not much.” The one called Khun shrugged lightly, his hands in the pockets of his dark blue coat. “We just want to see your painting. Something with waterfalls?”

Well, yes. He figured as much. “I’m not letting you burn it.”

“No, not at all! No burning here!” The black-haired woman shook her head and gestured with her hands. “We only want to see it. That’s it.”

Hockney raised an eyebrow. These people were weird. “And yet you catch me by force,” he muttered. You know what? Fine. It’s not like he had choices, anyways. He took the folded canvas from the inner pocket of his parka. Because, of course he took it with him. He didn’t know why it was important, but he wasn’t going to let them raid his home and get it somehow. He held it up in front of him so they could see it—with one hand, so the other would be ready to attack, if necessary. “Here. You can’t have it.”

“Huh, it’s really just a picture with waterfalls,” the blond kid muttered, sounding a little surprised.

“Those eyes!” the girl exclaimed suddenly, as if she just had a moment of realization.   
“Those…yellow things look a little like eyes, don’t they? Wangnan?”

The blond kid looked startled for a second but then nodded quickly. “Y-yeah. Eyes. Could be eyes.”

What were they talking about? Hockney glanced briefly at his own painting again. It was a scene like the inside of a cave, with three waterfalls on the right side flowing into a lake nested in the rocks. A dark shadowy area filled the left side of the painting, with the exception of two glowing yellow rectangle-like shapes in the center. He didn’t know what that was supposed to be. He guessed they kind of looked like eyes. The color and shape just seemed a little too mechanical for that.

“Where is that?” Khun asked directly, pointing to the painting.

“No idea.”

“Hmm?”

Hockney sighed. “It’s nothing but an image I got.”

“But how did you get the image?” The black-hair girl looked confused and suspicious.

“My eyes,” Hockney responded simply. Should he tell them? No, he should probably leave out some details. The fact that he could see a few seconds in the future was admittedly an advantage in fighting and he would like to keep it, should they end up fighting. As much as he hated his condition sometimes…it was useful. “I see things sometimes. When I see it, I paint it.” It was rare that it happened. He just would get a vision of the future, but no sounds or smells, just an image. He didn’t have any reason to think much of it. It was just some place he would eventually go.

“Oh… _that’s_ why your eyes look weird,” the one called Wangnan noted, before being hit upside the head by the girl and looking immediately offended. “Hey, what was that for!?”

“That’s rude!”

“ _You’re_ one to talk!”

“Thank you for showing us the picture,” the silver-haired guy cut in with a sigh, addressing Hockney.

Hockney folded the canvas back up and put it back into his pocket. The soldiers…did nothing. This didn’t seem right. “Is that it?” he asked, eyebrow raised.

“Afraid not.” Khun rocked back on his heels, shaking his head. “Hate to break it to you, but it looks like you’re going to have to be dead for the next few months.”

…what.

“Khun, you have to give him more than _that_!” Wangnan interjected, but Khun just raised up a hand to stop him.

“I’m getting to it.”

Hockney started to reach his hand slowly for the pole on his back. “What are you—”

“The record is going to be that we had a big fight here today,” Khun interrupted him, sounding entirely confident and relaxed with himself. “We thought we killed you, but turns out—surprise! You survived the attack. You were injured, so you hid out in a cave—or whatever your hiding place of choice is, the worm is fine—and then appeared out into the world again a few months later. People will be surprised you’re alive, but there won’t be much they can do about it, because now they know that your survival skills are impeccable and they can’t kill you quietly without causing a scene. If you’re lucky, this’ll blow over. If not, we’ll help.”

Did…did this guy just ask him to fake his death. What the heck? “Why do you think—”

“We were ordered to kill you.”

Hockney blinked. “ _What_? Then why aren’t you—”

“Because we’re lazy,” Khun replied easily. He was so cocky…

“OKAY EVERYONE, STAND BACK!” Mata’s voice suddenly appeared out of the blue. Hockney turned around to see him perched on top of Manyleg.

“Manyleg has a surprise attack you don’t know about!!!” he shouted from up there. “So back away from Hockney, or I’m just going to have to tell Manyleg to break out of these thorns, and…and I…and he’ll crush you!”

The silver-haired guy sighed. “We’re not--!”

“I WON’T HESITATE!”

Hockney was confused. Why did they go so far…he had so many questions. They _were_ Jahad soldiers, right? Did they really talk to Garam? If they were really given those orders, why did they let him go? And why did anyone want to kill him in the first place? He wanted to know.

However, he didn’t get a chance to ask any of them anything. In that moment, he looked up and saw a girl with pink wing-like things behind her pelting through the sky and going for the group.

The group in question seem very surprised. “Endorsi!?” Wangnan looked up in shock.

The girl’s wings disappeared as she landed in front of them, panting. “There’s an attack happening right now!” she exclaimed. “Planet Majimag! It’s an entire fleet!”

“What!?” Khun sounded bewildered. “When you say a fleet—”

“They say thirty to forty.” Endorsi panted hard. “But it’s raiders. A no-name group. But they’re struggling; the Sawfish is destroyed already. We have to hurry.”

The group’s faces blanched in unison. Hockney wasn’t sure what to say. Raiders were normal, but…this did seem very abnormal for a fleet that size…

“Endorsi, are you okay?” The black-hair girl addressed her worriedly, as the one in question seemed exhausted.

“Well our communications don’t work, do they!? Stupid planet messing with electronics…”

Yeah, that was true. So he was told. This place was a dead zone.

“We have to move,” Khun spoke seriously. “Right now, we’re getting back to the ship. Let’s hope these reports are exaggerations.”

And with that, they were gone, running off to where they came from. The red-hair guy released Manyleg. And Hockney felt that sense of dread again. Only, this time, it was for a very different reason.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, this chapter turned out way longer than I thought it be. It's all the fault of these children and their emotions XD
> 
> Had fun writing some Endorsi and Anaak action. Would really love to see them again in canon...you know what else I want to see? The fact that Garam raised this lizard child for a while. Like, it's in the past and all, but I want to know what that was like!
> 
> Got some reunions this chapter—yay for the gang being back together! Ready to deal with new issues! Honestly, scenes like that are a lot of fun to write, but they're so difficult at the same time...especially with this double reunion action. I'm not sure I did it justice but point is, people are happy to see them?
> 
> Khun and Bam will have their chance to talk and do a proper heart-to-heart soon enough. Or, as much heart as you can get when their emotions have been run through the blender and stepped on. 
> 
> Also, I was getting frustrated with the fact that we don't have place names without 'floor" in the title, so I slid in that the "Floor of Death" planet has a name and it is called Jug-eum, which according to google translate is Korean for "death." Because...Ima genius. Also, Majimag means "Last." As in...Last Station?
> 
> One more quick note before I go! I wove in a little bit of Bam's backstory for this AU in that one scene; just to clarify, Rachel isn't here. I thought about including her in the backstory, but then I thought, with this world being the universe and not the tower, young Bam would have too much power to just run around the universe forever trying to find her? So, she's not here. Oh well. *kicks off cliff* But yeah, so that said, I kind of made Bam a little more listless in regards to his purpose, as a result? Like, he's a little aware that everyone else has aspirations, and he doesn't. He doesn't have a tower to climb in this story. So, bit of a different dynamic.
> 
> Anyways, thanks for reading!


	4. When Trouble Strikes...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which the "Sawfish" gets attacked because that is its destiny and our protagonists getting just one day of rest in this mess is too much to ask.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Said in a reply to a comment that I would have this chapter up last weekend but it turned out to be a week after that so...my bad. 
> 
> Whelp, hope y'all enjoy the chapter!

When they got there, the Sawfish—that great floating city that was known for being a haven for travelers—was already crashed to the ground and on fire.

Yeon Ehwa wished there was a way she could make it all stop. The place was in chaos. People ran and screamed in no particular direction, and the raiders were everywhere, like a swarm of hornets.

“Cover me!” Ehwa leaped over the rumble to run in to attack, and on her cue, Wangnan threw a bomb at a gun-firing drone, which exploded on impact. As the raider got briefly distracted, she blasted him with her flames that came as an extension of her fist. Her approach was, at this point, quite literally fighting fire with fire, but that was just what she got.

People descended on her and she blew them back with a thundering wave attack. She had to be careful she didn’t hit civilians, but that was difficult. She had to hold back at least somewhat or…

_PEW PEW PEW PEW!_

“EHWA!”

She dropped to the ground at the sound of gunshots firing behind her and rolled out of the way. She looked up and saw Wangnan running in, two small bombs glowing with the charge of quintessence in hand. He hurled them at the newcomer with the machine gun, and then got toppled backwards with the shockwave of the explosion. Ehwa got up running and jerkily pulled Wangnan up and behind some rubble to get out of the way.

There was a moment of relative silence. Their attackers seemed to be down. Ehwa took a moment to catch her breath, and Wangnan did the same.

“Argh, how are there so _many_ of them!?” Wangnan vented with a groan.

Ehwa shook her head. “I don’t know,” she panted. “I don’t think there’s _that_ much more than the usual…but they just have a _whole_ lot of firepower.”

She heard an explosion in the distance, as if on cue. She tensed, but it wasn’t like she could tell the difference between the firing sounds of friend or foe anyways. They were awfully stretched thin, though. A lot of their team was caught up trying to deal with this fleet, as if they could deal with it with their personal abilities alone, because their own pathetic fleet sure wasn’t helping at all. The rest of them were spread out all over this planet trying to beat the attackers back.

As she and Wangnan broke away again from the hiding place to run in search of the raiders, Ehwa had hardly any time to think. Still, her mind kept running with apprehension, wondering what in the world was going on. This was by far the biggest conflict they’ve faced since FUG five years prior, even if they did have their whole fleet, and that last time, it was _FUG_. These are just…these should be nobodies! She’s certainly never seen them before! So, why now!?

The other thing her brain kept persistently drifting back to, even though it was hardly relevant right now, was that picture. She could have sworn that those two glowing yellow things in the cave’s shadows looked _just_ like the Red Lion’s eyes. Could that really be the case? It was hard to say, since that Hockney guy obviously had no idea what his own painting was about. Because…visions? That just made it seem all the more ominous. If it was actually of a lion, then did that mean someone else knew that? Was that why they wanted it destroyed? But why? Why destroy it? Wouldn’t they rather just take it? But even if that was it…Ehwa still had a terrible feeling about the whole thing. She couldn’t explain it. It was like being watched, even with no one present.

That feeling just got worse when they found one of the raiders’ ships—another one—parked on the ground, in the process of being filled with loot and with people. They came in to fight as fast as they could. Ehwa withheld her flames as she went in for a guy with a captive, shuddering a little as she heard the sound of his neck cracking with the force of her punch to his head. But still, it was too late. Just like before, the raiders’ ship went speeding off almost as soon as they showed themselves, and there was nothing they can do to stop it. They could only hope someone else would do so, although even then, it might not look good for the captives on board.

She rushed to get out her knife and cut the bonds of the poor old man she just saved. The civilian started coughing violently as she did so. No doubt the smoke from the multiple burning buildings was doing horrible things to the air…

“Over here!” A familiar voice shouted. Ehwa looked up in shock.

“Miseng!?”

Miseng was running towards them, Prince a short distance behind. Prince stopped near where Wangnan was helping people, and Miseng came towards her and the old man, certainty and determination in her eyes.

“What are you doing here!?” Ehwa asked more-or-less completely calmly once she got there.

“We’re evacuating the city,” she replied directly. “There’s an underground bunker a distance away. I don’t know if there’s enough room, but we’ll try.” Then, as if to answer Ehwa’s next question, she added on, “We came here with Hatz and Anaak.”

Ehwa felt an automatic aversion to the idea. Yes, Miseng and Prince had helped them plenty of times before, but…not in a battle like _this_. Yes, it wasn’t like they were children, but they were still _young_. And yet, she could see exactly why everyone would be needed right now. Only…

“Wait, who’s at the base, then?” Ehwa asked quickly, suddenly unsure as to who was where.

“Goseng, Arkraptor, and Bam,” Miseng replied. “Bam really wanted to come with us, but we had to convince him to stay back, with his injuries. Well, mostly Khun did the convincing. Besides, someone needs to be there in case of an attack, I know.”

Yeah…exactly. Ehwa wasn’t thinking of that before, but now she felt a whole new kind of dread. With nearly the entirely squadron out here, the only ones left to defend the base were the medic, a guy who was sick, and another guy with two bullet holes in his chest. How was that a good idea!?

But there wasn’t time for that right now. She focused on helping Miseng get the almost-captives and other nearby civilians into the cruiser they flew in with to evacuate them quickly. Apparently, they had done two trips already. Still…it was easier said than done.

_POW POW POW POW POW!_

A fighting ship came flying low, raining down the area with bullets. Chaos descended as people ran out of the way; Ehwa saw a civilian woman get shot dead in front of her.

“Take cover!” Wangnan had to shove some people into an alleyway that were too far from the ship, which was getting peppered with bullets.

Ehwa darted out of the way and looked up. She had to…that would work. “I’m going onto that roof!” she yelled to Wangnan, pointing to a building with an external staircase.

“But it’s on fire!”

“I’ll be fine!”

There was no time to lose. She started running. She needed to get as high up as she could, and also not get shot. A part of her felt crazy trying this. A long time ago, she never would have dreamed of going this far, no matter what the purpose…but here she was.

She made the flames erupt around her on the roof, using the fire from the building itself to make hers stronger. She tried to make sure she was on stable ground; she may be fire resistant and have strength higher than a normal person’s, but none of that helped her much if the building collapsed.

She saw bullets fired her way—they noticed her—when she released a blanket of fire into the sky.

The ship pulled upwards, but too late. Its engine started burning. It flew away in a winding path downwards

BOOOOOMMMM!

She heard the crash at a distance, hopefully not into the streets. She released a shaky breath.

 _“Ehwa! Ehwa, are you okay!?”_ her communicator buzzed with Wangnan’s voice.

“Yeah, I’m good. How are—?”

_“Prince and Miseng are fine. We…lost a few civilians, though.”_

She listened and heard the sound of ships in the distance. She breathed out and fought to keep her voice steady. “Okay. Help them shuttle out the people, if the ship is still flying. I’ll cover you. Others might come.”

The roof wasn’t giving in, not yet. And neither was she. She’ll hold this shield up for as long as she needed.

* * *

It felt good having a sword in his hands again, although Hatz could feel himself getting wearier by the minute. It didn’t matter. His hands stayed steady; he was in control; the blood that now lined the hillside didn’t belong to him or Rak, and it wasn’t going to.

_PEW PEW!_

_BLIICK!_

Hatz deflected a bullet with the flat of his sword, diving down the hillside an instant later to cut down the man who sent it, before jumping back to his position.

“HWWUUUAAHH!”

A spear went flying through the sky, spinning with the sound of a mechanical whir as it sailed towards a fighting ship overhead and pierced through its hull on impact.

“Ha ha!” Rak appeared satisfied with himself, clenching a fist in victory as his large cape billowed in the wind. “No prey is too great for the mighty Rak!”

Hatz spared a short glance at the rest of the landscape he could see from their hill. He saw the a pink bubble in the sky in the distance near some enemy ships, telltale of where Endorsi and Anaak were fighting, and elsewhere, he saw a large group of massive golden rose vines stretching towards the sky, indicative of Sachi also fighting the fleet from the ground. There seemed to be a lot of ships there. It really wasn’t ideal that Sachi was left without a partner, although admittedly, he probably had more fighting experience than the rest of them combined.

_pewpewpewpew!_

The ship that got hit started firing on them rapidly. Hatz jumped into the air in front of Rak to deflect the ones that came their way just as quickly.

_BLAM BLAM!_

“BACK, SWORD TURTLE!”

Hatz’s shoulder was very roughly grabbed by Rak, who flung him backwards as he erected a wall of rock in front of them that was met with the force of two consecutive missile strikes seconds afterwards. The rock rattled and rained dust on them, but the wall stayed.

“Your puny sword is not a shield!” Rak scolded, pointing to himself. “ _I_ am the shield!”

 _Okay, fair._ Hatz gave a slight grunt in response. “It works most of the time.” He did think, however, to look at his sword just then. It _did_ get chipped, a little, on the edge near the center. At least it didn’t crack. It was a decent sword, although unfortunately, his best one was currently somewhere on the FUG base. It wasn’t exactly like they had the opportunity to retrieve it.

_POW POW POW!_

The ship continued to wail on the rock shield, and it began to crack.

“Get ready,” Hatz warned, although Rak already had his next spear in hand.

“Hmph.”

A few moments of the beating, and then…

_KRA-KOOM!_

With a mighty cry, the spear went flying, and by some miracle, it actually hit the engine. The fighter started smoking. It was losing altitude.

“I’ll retrieve the spears!”

Hatz ran into the fray as he did before, dodging bullets and stopping anyone who got in his way. Fighting ships with spears was far from ideal, but at least they pierced all the way through and would land on the ground or in a tree somewhere. If they were stuck in the ship, that would be another matter entirely.

Actually…there was a lot _less_ opposition than what he expected. Maybe it made sense. The raiders should rely on their superior technology and numbers rather than go fight them in scattered fashion on the ground. Still, their ships must be…

Hatz saw it as he was running back with the spears in tow. It was slowing him down, because admittedly, the spears were far too heavy for him to wield, although he had more the advantage of speed. And that was exactly what he was about to need.

“RAK! The forest!” he yelled as he ran up the hill. Far off in the distance, he saw smoke but no fire, and a cluster of ships in one location. They were firing guns into rose vines as if they had a thousand to spare. They probably did. “They’re ganging up on Sachi!”

Rak’s eyes went wide when he realized it too. “Red Turtle!” He snatched his spears away from Hatz. “We’ll go there right now!”

Hatz couldn’t argue with that. Still… “Sachi! Sachi, are you okay?” he spoke into the communicator.

There was static for a moment. _“…I’m fine.”_ His breathing sounded heavy. _“I’m hurt, but I can shield. Stay where you are.”_

Yes, they were definitely coming. “We’re on our way!”

Rak was already ahead of him somehow. Hatz overtook him, his lungs starting to feel the stress from all the running, but instinct told him that they needed to get over there fast. And he was right. When they reached Sachi’s position, they saw that all that was left was a dome of rose vines and bullet hell up ahead. They were tearing into the vines. It wouldn’t be long…

“HEEE-AHHHH!” Rak erected a new dome the moment the rose vines fell. Hatz dove in and grabbed Sachi, whose left shoulder was dark with fresh blood, and something seemed off with his leg, too. In seconds, they backed out from the clearing Sachi had been fighting in and into the forest. Hatz stopped in a covered low-ground spot before Rak shielded again.

Sachi’s breathing sounded labored, but otherwise, he wasn’t reacting hard to his injury. Didn’t mean it wasn’t bad, though. “I told you—” he started in a tired tone.

“No,” Hatz cut him off bluntly. He was lucky it wasn’t worse.

“Ha! You think these ships are too great for your fearless leader Rak!?”

The sound of bullets had died down somewhat since their retreat, although the new dome they were under was still getting hit. Hatz knew they couldn’t hide here forever. They needed to find some way to keep Sachi safe and also get back to fighting.

Hatz clenched his fist as he thought about it. This wasn’t working. For every enemy ship they took down, there were ten more. There simply wasn’t enough of them. At a time like this, they should be using all the power they had, but they weren’t.

This was it. He needed to talk to Khun.

* * *

Aguero was trapped in one of those rare, rage-inducing moments where he really didn’t have a plan.

It wasn’t like he had lost the ability to make one. It was more like the opportunity was stolen from him. He had no cards; he had no options. He knew this was coming, and yet, he couldn’t do anything about it. Or could he? Maybe there were things he could have done sooner. Truth was, he had committed the fallacy of letting himself believe he had more time.

“Hard left!”

Boro notified him before turning the ship in a barrel roll to invade enemy fire. They were in the battleship right now—that small, singular one they had left. By the time Maschenny was done and gone, she left them with exactly six ships: the battleship they had locked in that one room, a smaller fighter, and four cruisers. The cruisers were out of the question for fighting purposes. They would be a death trap. He relented with letting Prince and Miseng use the one as a shuttle in hopes that the rest of them would be able to stop most enemy ships before they reached the city, but he wondered if that was a mistake. Everyone was communicating with him far less than he would like; he didn’t know how exactly things were going from up here.

They were in the upper layers of the atmosphere, employing hit-and-run guerilla tactics, because that was all they could do. Shibisu had the fighter. Aguero and Boro were manning the battleship. But, he really didn’t like spreading everyone out so thin. Unfortunately, he didn’t have many options; the suddenness of the attack meant that plans had to be made on the fly.

This morning, Aguero had exactly one plan—pretend that everything was normal. Hence why they finally made their way to Jug-eum to find that painter Hockney. Doing what was asked of them (at least, mostly) without further delays would make a show of business as usual. Plus, he was curious to know what it was about the painting that got them all worked up. If Ehwa’s theory was right, he had a pretty good idea why. And if that was case…well, the timing was stunning, he’ll give it that.

Aguero wondered if he was lying when he told Hockney he would be safe after a few months. He knew nothing about the guy, but learning a little of his power, he could understand why they wanted him dead. Seeing visions of things hidden away, things he should know nothing about? Who knows what else he might know? He may not think anything of it, but he had power, and that made him dangerous. That was the thing about the world. You could only be free if you were weak. Being strong meant only two things: people want you, or people want to kill you. Probably, on failure of the first, they turn to the second. That’s why Aguero, at some point, decided he would be strong on the condition that no one knew about it. The shadows were comforting. They let him know things about people who knew nothing about him. He would, one day, gain the power to do anything, only because most would think he could do nothing.

At least, that’s what he once thought was possible. Now, he could do little to stop the crash.

He expected Hatz’s voice to come through the intercom at some point, but he dreaded it, all the same.

_“Khun, I want to fight in Red.”_

Aguero didn’t say anything for a moment as he continued his attention on the control panel, readying the guns. “I’m not sure the color of your clothes would help you much,” he replied mirthlessly.

_“You know what I mean.”_

Huh, getting right to the point, are we? Fine, he’ll do the same. “No,” he replied firmly.

_“Why not!?”_

Was he seriously going to make him explain it _again_? “Because you’ll expose yourself, that’s why! Trust me, you have no idea—”

_“Sachi got shot in the shoulder.”_

Oh. _Crap._ Aguero felt himself tense. “You should have led with that.” He looked back at their location data. He hadn’t noticed yet that Sachi, Hatz, and Rak were now all in the same place. This wasn’t good. He knew it was only a matter of time before someone got hurt badly, but this decreased his hopes even more. Even just from the perspective of pure utility, they needed Sachi.

They really should retreat while they had the chance.

_VERR-BOOOMMMM!_

The ship shook violently with the impact. Aguero was nearly knocked out of his seat. No, not this. “What—”

“The left engine!” Boro told him.

_“Khun! What was that!?”_

“A missile strike!” he responded with a shout as he started firing back. “They snuck up on us! Hatz, just stay where you are! I’m getting back to you!”

He could smell the smoke. Aguero cursed his luck along with everything else. Still, he got a shot in. He saw through the scope the enemy ship also started smoking before it pulled back.

“Boro, check on the engine; I’ll fly!” Boro had more experience with these kinds of repairs than he did. Hopefully, they could do enough to keep them in the air, even if lopsided.

Boro ran out of the control room to get to the engine. Aguero flew them out of dodge as the looming dread settled in again. He needed to make a choice, and fast. This wasn’t working, and that meant they had exactly two options. In the first, they leave, and the planet is left to die. He was tempted to do it. The Sawfish had already fallen. The population would suffer now, but that’s what happened when you lived on the frontier. Raids happened all the time.

The other option could easily mean more deaths in the long run. Or maybe it wouldn’t. No, it wouldn’t—Jahad wouldn’t be able to produce another pilot. No, it just meant death to themselves.

That was the option where Aguero relented and let Hatz fly the Red Lion. On the surface, it made sense. It a superweapon got dropped into your lap, why wouldn’t you use it, especially if failure was the only other option? Well, it was far from that easy. Yes, Aguero had been thinking about it—it hadn’t left his mind since the second Maschenny left. Yes, he ran through every possibility—they weren’t good. It was obvious. Maybe not to Mr. Seppuku it wasn’t, but to him, the game was _painfully_ obvious. Why did Maschenny show up on the exact morning that Hatz and Bam came back, when they had literally just spoken a day before and she was in _Central_ then? Why did they take half the fleet away? Why did the raiders show up literally a day afterwards, with far bigger of a fleet than they should reasonably have? And—might he add—the design of the ships was suspiciously familiar. Old, but familiar. He would check later if he had the luxury. And why was that?

They were set up. He was almost positive. But even if it that wasn’t the case, he still had no doubt that if they brought the Red Lion out now, everyone in Central would know they had it soon enough. At least, everyone who mattered.

He couldn’t let that happen. There had to be a way out of this—a way so that they wouldn’t know. Make it look like the Red Lion came from somewhere else? It had a warp drive, apparently; Hatz could use it to cover his entrance and then go elsewhere after the battle—no, then he’d be alone. And they might be watching the base already. They couldn’t know for sure. If they knew, they would have searched the hangar more thoroughly. But they probably had suspicions. He just—

“ _MAYDAY! KHUN! I NEED SUPPORT! NOW!”_

Oh no. Please no. “SHIBISU!” He couldn’t do this. “What happened!?”

“ _They blew out my tail! I-I don’t think I can stay in the air!”_

Aguero briefly clenched his eyes shut as his fingers tensed on the controls. “I can’t.” It hurt him to say it. “You’re going to have to land. We were hit in one engine, and I can barely fly as it is. I can’t get there.” Why? Why did this have to happen? “Just hang on! I’m calling Endorsi and Anaak!”

He called the two of them immediately to tell them that Shibisu was about to crash land. Gratefully, they were still uninjured and had mobility. _Please let them be okay._

Aguero realized, now, that he wasn’t sure if they could retreat if they wanted to. Fine, then. Let the world know. He’ll come up with something.

 _“Khun, I got Shibisu!”_ Endorsi announced. _“The ship crashed, but it’s kind of in one piece, I guess.”_

Aguero breathed in the smallest hint of relief. That was good to hear. Shibisu was fine, at least for now. But now, it was time to take action.

“Hatz, are you still with me?”

_“Yes. Are you okay?”_

“Yeah, we got away, but Shibisu’s crashed. Endorsi and Anaak got him. Now listen. I brought one of the cruisers in the battleship. I can get Boro to fly it to you, and you use that to get back to the base.”

_“You mean…?”_

Aguero smiled a little in spite of all the apprehension he still had. “We’ll cover your retreat. Be careful.”

_“Hmph. Took you long enough, Earrings.”_

He had no idea.

Aguero lowered their altitude. There was no going back now; he would deal with this. Somehow or another, he would deal with this.

* * *

Endorsi felt like she could breathe for the first time in hours. Well, more or less. There was still a ton of things going on, things that were just too bothersome to think about right now, and besides that, this girl just wouldn’t shut up.

“I still can’t believe it!” Lee Soyong, the daughter of the Sawfish city leader, elated to her for the umpteenth time. “Voltron! It’s really back! I wonder where the rest of the lions are. Don’t you guys know _anything_ about that? Any clues? Have you even _maybe_ seen them?”

Or maybe, this conversation would be a lot less stressful if _someone_ didn’t slap a gag order on all of them the second the smoke settled. Not that Endorsi didn’t agree with Khun on that, it was just the principle of being told what to do. “No, I have _no_ idea where that _strange_ lion came from,” Endorsi lied with a shrug, her voice betraying her annoyance a little. Wouldn’t Soyong give it up already?

She kept walking, and Soyong walked beside her. They were just outside the medical tent now, set in front of the ruined hospital, where the wounded civilians were being treated. It was incredibly crowded over here. At least a lot of the old hospital staff were still alive and able. Things were bad for them, but, Endorsi was reminded that this could have been a lot worse.

It was just after Endorsi and Anaak pulled Shibisu from his burning ship that Khun gave the announcement, that Hatz was going back to base, and they needed to cover his retreat. It didn’t take a genius to know exactly what they were planning. As the three of them dodged enemy fire, Endorsi could only think that it was about _time_ they beat the fool out of these guys.

It definitely didn’t take long. In fact, it was _so_ short of a battle at that point that Endorsi was annoyed that they had been fighting as long as they were. Like seriously, why were they even there!? She would rag on Hatz for stealing their thunder later, but still, that sight was deeply satisfying. The Red Lion didn’t just fight their ships, it _annihilated_ them. It produced energy beams as big as some of its opponents were wide. It was insane. Really, it was no wonder the raiders retreated so quickly, the cowards. The moment Voltron showed up, it was over.

“Yeah, I understand,” Soyong responded a bit more awkwardly this time, scratching the back of her neck. “It’s just…so _amazing_. I remember hearing about the Voltron legends as a kid. They always said that they would come back to liberate the universe one day…” she trailed off dreamily, before abruptly catching herself with a wide-eyed start. “Uh, not that it needs liberating, or anything! Jahad is…umm…well, the legend says that the old paladins of Voltron are asleep somewhere, ready to live again at the universe’s greatest time of need. And now one has come…really, can you imagine what the pilot must be like? I heard they are celestial beings with god-like powers that can destroy planets with a swipe of the hand! Well, the legends probably exaggerate a little bit…”

Endorsi fought really, really hard not to laugh. A little exaggeration? Yeah. You could say that.

“…but, just think about it!”

“Hmph, who knows?” Endorsi shrugged again non-committedly. At least she was far better at lying than Soyong was. But, now would be a great time to change the subject… “But hold that thought, one question for you.” She stopped walking right then and pointed upwards. “Why are your radio towers still standing?”

The city had been largely reduced to rubble. It wasn’t flattened, but still, there was hardly a building that wasn’t hit in one way or another. Because of that, there was one thing that bothered Endorsi, and she had a feeling Khun was thinking something on those same lines when he told them to not under _any_ circumstances claim affiliation with the Red Lion and _definitely_ not tell them who the pilot was. The two radio towers in this city were still standing. They should have been the raiders first target. So why?

Soyong’s face fell a little as she looked up. “I don’t know. We were lucky, I guess…but…it didn’t really matter, because I wasn’t able to get to them. I really tried. But, every way into the control room was blocked off. The walls were collapsed, and I couldn’t break in. I tried. I’m…I’m sorry I couldn’t call for help sooner.” Her face turned downcast, the gaze in her dark eyes laced with regret. Endorsi remembered the times they’ve been to this planet before. Soyong always did seem the most involved of her family when it came to everything going on here; it was obvious she cared a great deal about this city and the people living in it. Endorsi could only imagine what seeing the place like _this_ must feel like.

Endorsi narrowed her eyes at the tower. She wasn’t going to bother to tell her that even if she did call for help, it wasn’t like any other forces of Jahad were going to come. Endorsi should know. They tried.

_“Hmph. I don’t get why you’re spending so much time over there anyways.” Shilial conversed like she was only half paying attention as she continued to fix her hair in the mirror. “If you’re having problems with FUG, just come back to Central.”_

_Endorsi had to resist so many urges, least of which being to punch her ‘sister’ square in the face. “Wow, just that easy, huh?” Her voice was laced thick with sarcasm._

_“Oh, can you not transfer?” Shilial looked back at her briefly, seeming confused. “Is Maschenny punishing you or something?”_

_Endorsi responded with a glare, her shoulders tense. Why did she bother? She wouldn’t explain it. So what if she wanted to stay there? So what if she cared when these nobodies died? She should be able to do what she wanted! And if Central didn’t care enough to give them a second glance when they needed it…well, then she just wouldn’t care about them, either._

_“You don’t get it.” Endorsi turned around to leave. She wasn’t doing this anymore. She glanced back at Shilial with a cold, lofty gaze. “Why would I want to live in a trash heap like this?”_

“You haven’t heard from your father yet?” Endorsi asked Soyong instead, her eyes on the tower still.

Soyong shook her head, her gaze on the ground. “No, I haven’t. I…I hope he’s alive.”

Endorsi nodded mutely. There were things they needed to investigate, but unfortunately, she wasn’t sure if they had the time. “Right, well…sorry about your city.”

“It’s okay; thank you for coming as soon as you did.” Soyong smiled again, albeit sadly. “We’ll…we can rebuild. I’m just glad that there’s a chance things might be different for people like us now. Seeing Voltron—it makes me think they might just be able to save the world or something like that.”

Endorsi quirked a small smile. Yeah, that’ll be the day. “Well, we’ll just have to see what happens.”

* * *

For nearly an hour Aguero had been alone in the command room, books open on the desk, one computer screen open with files for reference, and the footage gained from their last battle playing endlessly on the other. It simultaneously felt like he had spent far too much time here already and like he had hardly enough time to plan at all, mostly because it was both. Time was valuable when he simply didn’t know how long they had before Central took action. At least now, he had at least one valid plan, if no one interfered.

He heard knocking on the door while his eyes were on the screen. He suppressed a sigh thinking of all the people he definitely wasn’t in the mood to talk to right now. “You can come in.”

“Khun?”

That was Bam’s voice. Aguero quickly turned around in his chair, seeing Bam at the doorway looking hesitant, and his mind spun into cartwheels. Bam. Did he want to talk to Bam right now? Well, that felt like a dumb question; of course he _wanted_ to talk to him. That’s what he had _been_ wanting ever since Bam got here, and he did, some, but…well, not enough. He saw him with the others for hours after Maschenny left yesterday. He slept on a chair in the hallway after Goseng eventually pushed them out so Bam could sleep. He was there that night, but at some point, he knew he needed to leave and prepare for the next day. Even while all of them were there together, he had been distracted thinking about it, which he hated, but even so, maybe he wasn’t distracted enough, because today’s disaster still happened.

Aguero wanted to talk to Bam. But, this felt like less of a talk, and more of a burden. Aguero knew Bam had too many of those already. There was no way he was going to like what Aguero had to say, but…he needed to tell him, anyways. So, Aguero hid his apprehension with a lighthearted smirk as he acknowledged Bam’s presence and beckoned him in to sit in the chair near him. “You should really cut your hair, you know,” he teased. “You might trip on it.”

“You’re reviewing the footage?” he asked as he quietly stepped closer, ignoring the previous comment.

Aguero nodded, releasing an exhale. “Those ships were definitely 103-D series,” he shared his previous deductions. “They were decommissioned about 500 years ago, but no doubt, those were definitely Jahad’s ships that the raid group was attacking us with.” Annoyingly, despite being so old, they still seemed to have better firepower than the measly ships their own fleet consisted of. “No one would have just abandoned an old ship in the junkyard. Either the raiders stole those ships, or someone gave them to them.”

“You think this was a setup.”

Well, Bam definitely read him easily. “Yes,” Aguero agreed soberly. “But I could be wrong.” It didn’t matter. It didn’t matter if he was wrong or right, they would still _know_. And add that to what Endorsi told him about those radio towers: why weren’t they hit, unless someone told them not to?

Bam nodded absently, his gaze far off with some melancholic stare at nothing. Aguero felt his heart sink again at the sight of it. It wasn’t just now. He looked like this yesterday, too. Even when they were all together talking and laughing at nothing in the med bay room, Bam would talk and laugh too, but his smile was sad, and his eyes were pained. His whole self seemed distracted, like his mind was perpetually somewhere else.

Aguero didn’t know what to do with that. He would sometimes feel himself fall into the wishful thinking that everything was fine now, that it could be like nothing had changed. But, it had. He knew that this was the same Bam he knew back then, that at his core, he was that same reckless, stubbornly kind dreamer that had made friends with him back when Aguero wasn’t planning on having any. But today, it was like there was only half of him. The other half was lost somewhere in the cold depths of space where he spent five years alone, in the story that Bam didn’t want to tell. Because, Aguero knew that Bam wasn’t telling them everything. He wasn’t about to force him to, either. He just wished he could help. He wanted to talk to him, for real, to tell him that he was sorry for everything. Sorry that he let this happen to him. Sorry that he was such a stupid idiot to actually believe him dead, to not go looking for him right away.

He wanted to tell him that he was sorry he couldn’t protect those eyes.

But Aguero didn’t say anything like that out loud. He shook those thoughts off and replaced them with the matter at hand, because that was the only thing he could handle. “Whether or not it was on purpose, that attack drew out the Red Lion, which means they’re going to find out we have it,” Aguero reasoned through out loud. He might as well get to the point. “They’re going to want it. Especially now knowing that the lion is just as powerful as the rumors say, I’d be surprised if they don’t go after it.”

“So…are we going to try to hide Red again?” Bam suggested, although his hesitant tone told Aguero that he already knew that wouldn’t work.

Aguero shook his head. “It would be pointless. They would still know it was us. That lion left from and came to this base. I thought about telling Hatz to be more evasive, but…” He gestured with his hand and shrugged. He should have, but that was delaying the inevitable. “It wouldn’t have worked.”

Bam nodded solemnly. “I see. You’ve been thinking about what we’re going to do?” he asked, his voice a mix of worry and a very faint glimpse of hope.

It was a relief to hear anything like hope in his voice, but unfortunately, Aguero already knew he was going to disappoint. “I’ve been running through a few options,” he agreed. “That is, expecting that people from Central will come right away and not drag this out. They’ll come and demand the lion, so the first option is, we refuse and fight for it. Either convince them we should be allowed to keep it, or we straight-up use force to get them to back down.” He shook his head. “We’re not doing that.” That much was obvious. “Even with that lion—with ‘Red’—we can’t take the whole army like this.” He guessed the lion had a name now? Hatz kept calling it ‘Red’, and now Bam was saying the same thing. Weird, but okay. “Not forever, anyways. And I doubt we can do much in the way of convincing.” He remembered his own family, the process they went through, the way they would all compete just to get a chance at the Blue Lion. It was laughable to think it would be enough to get chosen by the lion. You had to get chosen by the Empire. If you weren’t, you would surely be an enemy. Not unless they thought they could use you.

“That means,” he spoke with a long exhale. “Our other option is to give them the lion.”

“What!?” Bam interjected, Aguero’s announcement having just about exactly the expected reaction. “But—”

Aguero held up a hand to stop him. “Hear me out. We’re about to be traitors for just _possessing_ this thing, let alone keeping it from the Empire. In a way, this is our only option. In their eyes, their only options would be to get the pilot of that lion under their nose so they can use him directly and not keep him as a loose cannon on the good-for-nothing frontier full of enemy factions, or, they can kill the pilot, take the lion, and hope to find someone else to fly it. Unless, we give it to them without a fight. If these lions really are as picky as they seem, it’s not like they’ll actually find another pilot.”

Bam’s brow scrunched in worry and a bit of confusion, his hair just barely showing his eyes. “But why is that different?” he questioned. “Taking the pilot or killing him—why would they not do that just because we give Red willingly? Wouldn’t Hatz still be in danger?”

Well, good to see Bam was still sharp. To be honest, he was probably sharper now than when Aguero knew him last. He was taking things a little slower now than he used to, thinking rather than running with the first available action. “You’re right.” Aguero smiled with an attempt at confidence. “That’s why I’ll be the Red Paladin.”

Bam’s expression rose in confusion and alarm. “Wha—”

“They won’t have any way of knowing who the Paladin actually is,” Aguero cut him off to explain. “So, the pilot could be anybody, right? That’s why I’ll make it me. If it was Hatz, they might kill him on the spot. He’s a nobody. But if a _Khun_ had the audacity to hide a lion from his commander?” He smiled and let that hang for a second. “They wouldn’t pass up the chance to make it public. I could be made an example to my whole family if they execute me in Central, and that means I’ll have time to get out of it. Don’t worry about it. I have my contacts there, and if that doesn’t work, I can bribe someone.”

For all the confidence Aguero was sure he put in those words, he couldn’t say he was at all surprised to see Bam staring at him as if he just announced he would go jump off a skyscraper. He was stunned, brought to edge of his seat like he would at any second jump up and try to stop Aguero right then and there. “Why—why you _do_ that!?” He finally found his words. “You can’t—what if it doesn’t work!?”

“Bam, I’ll be fine,” he tried to sound reassuring. “This is our best—”

“And what about the _other_ possibility!?” Bam didn’t relent. “What if they ask you to actually be the pilot for them? If you can’t fly Red, they’ll know you’re lying!”

“Then we’re back to square one,” Aguero replied easily, keeping calm. “They try to execute me. It’s not like I’m going to tell them anything. Don’t worry; I won’t sell out Hatz.”

Bam shook his head. “Khun, Hatz would sell _himself_ out—!”

“That’s why I’m not telling Hatz.” Aguero’s tone turned more serious. “I’m telling you.”

“But…” Bam looked confused again. “How are you…?”

“I’m not telling everybody.” Aguero shook his head. Bam might as well know that now. “I can’t. Because you’re right, Hatz _would_ sell himself out. That idiot would rather get shot than let me tell a damn lie for him, and that’s why I’m only telling you.”

“You…you think _I’m_ okay with this?” Bam’s voice turned softer, more hurt.

Aguero looked away from him for just a second. He knew this would it bad, but it was a little worse saying everything out loud. He was selfish for putting this on Bam. He should have told no one at all, but then, it might not have worked like he wanted it to. “No. It’s not that. But, I don’t think we have much time. If forces from Central are going to show up, we probably have only a few hours. Maybe we’ll get lucky and they won’t come, but that’s just delaying the inevitable. Bam…just trust me. Please. I’ll make this work.”

“They _need_ you, Khun.” Bam met his eyes again. “You…you can’t just leave. Think about everyone else. What will happen to them when you’re gone?”

“The same thing regardless,” Aguero responded with a sad smile again. “They’re going to get separated. Bam…we’re hiding a little more than just the Red Lion, right now. We haven’t been doing things by the book for years. Even if nothing else, they’re probably about to find out about three work camps that should exist but don’t. I falsified records. But you see, this way, I can take all the blame. They won’t keep the squadron together, but they’ll live, at least. Bam, I’m really sorry. This is just the most practical choice right now.”

Bam didn’t say anything for a few moments. He nodded slightly, as if needing to take time to swallow the pill. “Okay.” His voice was emotionless. Aguero hated to hear him sound like that, but he didn’t have much choice. “Then, I should do it.”

 _What?_ Aguero blinked dumbly for a second, trying to get what he just said. “I’m sorry, what did you say?”

“I’ll pretend to be Red Paladin instead.”

Oh no. No, he wasn’t doing this. “Bam, no. Please, it’s not like I’m planning on dying. I’m sorry, but you can’t do the same thing. It’ll be the same outcome as if it were Hatz—”

“No, it won’t be.”

Crap, he sounded serious. “But Bam—”

“No, I’m _not_ Bam.” He stared him straight in the eye. “I’m Viole. All of those problems you were just talking about—that’s only if the 134th squadron are the ones who had the lion. It’s not the same if FUG hijacked your base.”

“That’s…” No. No, he couldn’t do that. Aguero shook his head. “That doesn’t even work! Hijacked our base? You’re just one person! And, you _were_ a Jahad soldier, once! You don’t think they’ll—”

“Khun.” Bam cut him off. “They’re not going to know that. But Viole…Viole has already been fighting them.”

“No. Absolutely not.” Aguero had to nip this in the bud, and fast. “If you’re going to act like one of FUG, that’s even worse. They’ll definitely kill you.”

“But the rest of you won’t get consequences for it.”

Which was the same as saying ‘yes.’ Aguero felt himself quickly slip into panic. He should have expected this. No, he did expect it, he just wasn’t expecting Bam to have a good argument. But his reasoning didn’t matter a thing. “Bam, I’m not letting you die!”

“I’ll fight back!” Bam insisted. “I can handle myself. I’ll make a big show of it when they arrive and distract them from all of you. I’ll find a way to fight them and then disappear again. Trust me.”

“Fight a whole army? You’re not serious—”

“I am.”

That was it. Aguero stood up out of his chair, for no other reason than that he was stressed and his energy needed to go somewhere. “No! You can’t just go ‘disappear’—”

“But I’m going to have to anyways, right?” His tone turned harsh. “You just said they’ll scatter the squadron. I’ll _have_ to leave. That’s why you wouldn’t let me fight in this last battle, wasn’t it? It’s dangerous for you all just to be seen with me.”

“No, I wouldn’t let you go because you were shot in the chest _twice_! And that was _yesterday_!” Why was Bam being like this!?

“This is nothing! I’ve had _much_ worse!” Bam shot back with ferocity, but his expression fell just as quickly, his gaze clouded with instant regret as he saw Aguero’s reaction.

Aguero felt a sensation like a knife twisting in his gut. _Much worse._ Bam wasn’t exaggerating. Because, Bam never exaggerated.

He felt like he would choke. “Bam…”

Bam looked away quickly, his hands clenching his sleeves. His voice grew quiet again. “Khun…I know you want to handle everything yourself, and…and I _do_ trust you, but please. Let me fix this for you. It’s my fault all of this happened in the first place. I…I couldn’t save Hatz right. Everything that happened, the lion…it wasn’t like I planned. And then, when we got here, I distracted you. But, FUG is probably going to make a move to try to get me back, even if Jahad’s army does nothing right now. I’m dangerous to you.”

As if he cared about that. Aguero couldn’t do this. “Bam, please…don’t make me lose you again.”

“You will if you die.” Bam spoke gently, but his words were surprisingly quick, and they hit him like a brick. Aguero’s gaze shot back to Bam again, and Bam smiled slightly, apologetically.

Well, he did have a point. Aguero gave a short, bitter laugh, his body moving to sit down again, although this time, the chair seemed like too much of a hassle for him, so he settled for slipping all the way down to the floor. Bam sat down there beside him.

Aguero shook his head again. Why did they do this to themselves? Someone’s head was going to roll regardless. Now they were stuck arguing over whose. All he really wanted was a bit more time with Bam and everyone else, some time to be normal and _not_ ponder the end of the world. But…guess he blew it with that one. Now he was stuck having to make a decision. Was there a way he could support Bam’s plan, and make it so that he won’t die in the process? He couldn’t deny that the idea of shifting the blame for this mess on FUG was appealing, but leaving Bam to shoulder that mess and potentially fight an army alone was very decidedly not. Aguero should be the one to fix it. He was the one who came up with the plan; that was the one thing he was good at, and now, he was failing.

“You said there was a few,” Bam suddenly spoke up out of the silence.

Aguero turned to him, now confused. “What?”

“At first, when you said you were thinking of what of what to do, you said you had a ‘few’ ideas. You only mentioned two. That’s a ‘couple.’” He paused with a slight smile. “So…was there anything else you were thinking about?”

Aguero smirked a little and exhaled. Huh, Bam really has gotten sharp, hasn’t he? “Technically, yes,” he conceded. “But it’s not a _smart_ idea.”

“Which is…?”

Yeah, well, why not say it? “We leave.” Aguero smiled at him and shrugged, internally laughing at his own stupidity. “We pack up everything and get out of here. Leave the Empire’s borders entirely. Now, before you get ideas,” he eyed Bam as he sensed him about to say something on that. “There’s a lot of reasons that won’t work. We’ll be tailed by Jahad, and, we uproot _everybody_ and turn them into fugitives. I’m not about to ask anyone to do that. Maybe, if we’re lucky, we find another faction that’ll take us, but I’m not banking on it.”

“I understand.” Bam nodded in agreement. “I don’t want to do that to everyone, either. But that’s why you have another idea, right?”

This time, Aguero straight up laughed. “Bam, you’re overestimating me. Yes, I was thinking of something else, but that’s more personal spite than a viable goal.” He paused a moment, thinking. “Maybe more of a fantasy. It’s just, the best way to get out of the grasp of someone in power is to have more power than they do, right? I’m not talking about waging war, just being a threat. So I thought, ‘if we already stole one lion, what’s four more?’” Aguero shook his head. “Ridiculous, I know. But we know the location of two of them: the Blue Lion and whatever one is in that cave with three waterfalls.”

Aguero noticed, right then, that a little light went on in Bam’s eyes. “You think someone can fly them?”

“No guarantees,” Aguero negated. He wasn’t getting Bam’s hopes up. “It’s just that before, the Paladin teams were supposedly teammates before Voltron. That’s just stories though. I have no idea why ‘Red’ waited three thousand years to pick a paladin, but heck if I know what the criteria is supposed to be.”

“Well, it’s a bond, right?” Bam offered.

“Yeah, but that’s just a—"

“That’s what _you_ said, before,” Bam cut him off, gesturing to him. “Remember? You told me about your family, and about how they had the Blue Lion. You said they were trying to get chosen, but that it had to be a bond. The lions pick people with a character like their own—isn’t that how it goes?”

Right. Aguero almost forgot he had talked to him about that. “Assuming the lion _has_ a character—it’s still just a machine.”

“I don’t know.” Bam shrugged. “Hatz says that Red talks to him.”

Ha, that was rich. “Sounds like the blood loss talking.”

“He’s wasn’t the one losing blood yesterday,” Bam countered, his tone light and amused. He paused for a second. “You think you can take the lion from your family?”

“If nothing else, I’m tempted to steal one of my dad’s starships.” Aguero smirked. “I don’t like basing plans on something as uncertain as one of us getting chosen by a mechanical cat, but if we succeed with the ship, we can steal the lion while we’re at it. That is,” he stopped and gestured to the air, “assuming we do that at all. Going _towards_ Central is by no means the safest option, unless we buy time.” He was thinking about it. Call him insane, but he was thinking about it. He kept shooting certain ideas down before because it did nothing but buy time, and he couldn’t think of a good plan that would make delaying the inevitable worthwhile and not make everything worse for everybody instead.

“We could ask,” Bam offered simply. “We might as well ask everyone.”

“But is it really a choice?” Aguero raised his eyebrow. “If I mention this plan, I might be pressed to give the alternative, too. _No one’s_ going to go for the scapegoat plan, no matter who that scapegoat is. I’ll be forcing their choice.”

“Well,” Bam paused. “I’m sure you can come up with something.”

Aguero exhaled, leaning back against the side of his desk and looking up at the ceiling from the floor. “It depends on the way these next few hours go. But yeah…I might have something.”

“Then we’ll have to talk to them sooner rather than later.” Bam looked back at him and smiled. It was a tired smile, but it wasn’t quite sad like it was before. Seeing it made Aguero relax a little, although there was nothing to relax about. They were in trouble no matter what they did. There was just something calming, selfish though it was, about being in this mess together.

_“Khun? Khun, where are you?”_

Aguero’s eyes widened as heard Ehwa’s voice over the comm. He shot up off the floor in an instant and saw her surprised face on the video screen. He felt himself tense again. “Ehwa, what happened!?”

 _“I see them!”_ she confirmed with vivacity _. “Well, I don’t know who they are or anything, but_ you _said to ‘watch the radar like a hawk,’ so, there’s this big cluster of dots on the screen. I don’t know how many, but they seem to be staying in one place, and one ship has peeled off and looks to be heading in our direction.”_

So it was them, then. Aguero breathed a long, shaky breath. Okay. This was fine. “How long?”

_“At this rate…it’s looking like an hour, probably?”_

An hour? That wasn’t great, but he could work with that. “Thank you.” He nodded.

 _“Great, so now can you_ please _tell me what’s going on!? Who are you expecting!?”_ Ehwa demanded, her expression suspicious and a little annoyed. Aguero smiled and laughed a little on the inside. That expression sure brought back memories, like back in the beginning before they knew each other well, on that one day when Ehwa stormed into his room accusing him of doing all these ridiculous things which were absolutely true. Ha, joke’s on her. She’s one of them, now.

“I’ll tell you in a minute. Get to the courtyard. Actually, go ahead and tell everybody to get to the courtyard, okay? We have to move fast.”

Ehwa blinked. _“…okay? Fine, but this better be good.”_

Aguero smirked at her through the screen. Yes, he thinks he know exactly what he’s about to do. “Believe me, it will be.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahh...I spent so much picking over this chapter...fight scenes are hard...
> 
> Anyways, Khun has a plan! A new plan, one that doesn't involve him being a suicidal idiot. Not that he couldn't have pulled it off, but did he really think Bam would let him?
> 
> Ah, but yes, that last scene was fun. It was actually the scene that I wrote first, when I thought of this concept but wasn't even done with the Webtoon yet (I'm a newbie, got into this series from the anime!). But then, later on, I thought I might actually make a whole thing out of it. Of course, by that point, this whole scene had to be rewritten, but yeah. Nothing much, just two friends trying to out-self-sacrifice each other and failing, as they be. I could imagine Khun being very stressed in this situation, not really having a clear path where he could guarantee a win that wouldn't involve everyone dying. He wouldn't be too keen on the Voltron Lion's "chosen one" system either, I think, since he just can't count on it. And then, you got Bam becoming "Bam" again in an extremely sudden way, so he's still going to be pretty stressed as well, not knowing what FUG would do and feeling like a liability. I really want to play with this idea as well of Bam not feeling like he has agency over his own life since he was robbed of that for so long, so he'll have to grow into his confidence some more. Or something like that. "Viole" strikes me as someone confident in his abilities, but not necessarily confident in being his own person. I dunno, it's interesting to me.
> 
> Anyhow! That's just my interpretation of the characters, I suppose. Hopefully y'all find this chapter fun, and by fun, I mean sad. But mostly just stressful. It's transitional, mainly, but more things will happen very soon.
> 
> Also the Sawfish is basically that place from the Last Station arc, but it's a city. With more people.
> 
> I feel unsure how clear the whole "something suspect is afoot" thing I was getting at came out to be, but basically, the attack was a trap to draw out the Red Lion. I'll save more on that for next chapter, though.
> 
> Thank you all for reading!


	5. Strike Back

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bam takes it on himself to face a fleet alone. But it's okay; he's done this before!

_"I won't sit back, and accept the hand we are dealt_   
_A fate that's thrown out by someone else_   
_There is still a future I can see_   
_One I hope you'll share with me"_

—BACK-ON, "Strike Back" (translation by Amalee, feat. NateWantsToBattle)

* * *

Bam kept himself afloat in the thin air by the force of quintessence alone, shimmering around him like water as he closed his eyes to still his nerves. When he opened them again, the form of ships in the distance had gotten just a little bit larger. He counted about ten that he could see, with one form far more massive than the others. It already a vast change from the one ship they appeared to be sending as a messenger before. But, it was no wonder that with Viole involved, the plans of Jahad Corps Commander Lyborick have changed.

_“Did no one get our distress calls before!? We need help—now!”_

_Khun’s voice sounded angry and extremely stressed from the other side of the doorway. Bam breathed in—that was it. That was the signal. All Khun needed to do was take the call—the bleeding shallow cut on his forehead for dramatic effect could be explained away either way this went. And, the way this went was obviously that a general of Jahad was addressing them on the other end of that line._

_If it turned out that Jahad knew nothing and they were coming back for some other reason, they could be making a terrible move. But, Bam would trust Khun’s instincts._

_“Where are you right now?” The voice on the video sounded both very stern and very shocked and confused right now._

_“I’m in the basement underneath the hangar; they already took over the communications tower, but we’re fighting them off here. It’s FUG. I repeat, FUG has taken over this base. They have this superweapon on their side, as well as a quintessence user.”_

_“Hold the line,” the voice ordered firmly. “Use whatever resources you have—but_ don’t _let them leave before backup arrives.”_

_“I’m working with half a fleet!” Khun protested. “How much do you expect—”_

_“Don’t move. I have your fleet. We’re coming.”_

Bam took a deep breath and waited a few seconds longer for the ships to come closer. For him, this was a very familiar position—so much so, that it was easy to forget that he was in a familiar sky this time, and not some other place far away, sent alone to fight Jahad’s Armada. He was trained to do this alone. He knew how to be here without the aid of a ship, high above all the forces on the ground and just low enough that he could still breathe, although it was still a little difficult, once he started exhausting his energy.

He would be fine, though. He felt again for the small comm in his ear, reminding himself that even though physically, he was the only one here, he wasn’t alone this time. There were people he cared about on the ground, who would be on the other side of the comm helping him and not continually pressing him with contempt to do better, fight harder. They wanted him to stay alive. They told him that, _very_ strongly. Internally, Bam still had doubts—he didn’t think they understood just how much danger his presence would put them in—but, he promised he would try.

Bam assumed his stance, his long hair that was previously still in the windless heights now pulsing with energy behind him. The ships came in closer, the detail of the small forerunners, the ones sent as a shield for the larger starship behind it, coming into view. The people in those small ships didn’t deserve what Bam was about to do to them. But, it was too late to stop being their enemy now.

There was a purple glow and a shimmering of the atmosphere as the orb in front of his hands appeared into existence and grew, humming with life.

_PEW PEW PEW! PEWPEWPEWPEW!_

_Swwwwiiii—BOOOMM!_

The ship blew apart on the orb’s impact. A billow of fire rose and was immediately snuffed out by the low oxygen. The ship was falling.

_POW POW! PEWPEWPEW!_

They were firing at him all at once, but their path was predictable. They fired where he was, not where he was going. He evaded and kept up a shield. _Stay alive_. One ship started laying out blanket fire. It was unsurprising that they were wasteful with their bullets; he knew how people from Central fought. FUG was different in that it was always more selective with their sacrifices.

One by one, the small ships in front were obliterated into nothing. Bam felt keenly the energy pulsing through his body, the quintessence alive like it would soon swallow him as he unleashed blast after blast, focusing on nothing but the targets ahead. Quintessence, that thing which was supposed to be the essence of life itself, that raw power that existed in everything that breathed and made up the fabric of space itself. He wasn’t sure if it was ever really supposed to be used as a weapon, but for him, that was all he knew how to do.

_KRA-KOOOMMM!_

The left side of the starship roared as it erupted into pieces. The ship still fired. Bam could only pay so much attention to it as other ships tried to split away. He couldn’t let them get to the ground. He needed to buy time.

_“I’ll cut through the chase: someone’s coming, and they’re going to be here in an hour. One of two things are about to happen,” Khun announced calmly before the entire assembled, and now very anxious, squadron. “Either it’s nothing and no danger is about to happen, or it’s very dangerous and we’re about to be attacked. There’s no time to explain, but we have two options: either I go meet that ship and deal with it myself, or all of us leave this base right now. You can ask questions later.”_

_Well, predictably, people had a lot of questions right_ now _. Khun was close-lipped with the answers; he wasn’t taking the time to tell them the same story he told Bam. It meant he left out all the details of the two plans—Bam wasn’t sure how he felt about that._

_“Blue Turtle—who’s attacking!? I will fight it!”_

_“Are we going to be pursued?”_

_“What, the Sawfish got you paranoid or something?”_

_Bam took a deep breath. “I’ll cover our retreat,” he announced, calling all attention to him in an instant. “That’s…that’s the plan if we leave.”_

_Many eyes went wide with shock. Endorsi reeled on Khun in an instant. “_ That’s _your plan!?!? But Bam is—”_

 _“No, it’s_ my _plan,” Bam interrupted her, pointing to himself. “And, well…Khun made the plan better. Please, trust me. We’ll have time for a better plan later. But…this way, everyone can be safe, and we won’t let them have the Red Lion.”_

_“Whoa—who said anything about the Red Lion!?” Wangnan’s eyes went wide._

_Oh. Oops._

_“Is that what this is about?” Hatz eyed Khun suspiciously._

_“We don’t know that for sure!” Bam backed up, realizing that he was betraying to everyone the fact that he and Khun had already talked about this. He would apologize for that later. “But…probably.”_

There was a distinctive whistling noise ringing through the air as a homing missile came for him. Bam had to fly out of the way to dodge, picking up speed until he could make it collide with another incoming rocket. He stopped a second, his breath growing heavy. He didn’t have time to get tired; he needed to conserve. They might never land a shot at him, but if he exhausted himself completely, he might not be able to stay in the air.

He didn’t need to destroy everything. He just needed time. He focused on that center starship, the air moving and shaking like a whirlpool around him.

“Viole, I presume?”

In his focus, he almost missed the figure coming his way from above him. Bam backed up, shocked to see a man in a commander’s uniform come into view, standing on a floating disk and flanked a short ways behind him by a couple of subordinates. Bam noted the metal headband-thing and neck-length purple hair—that was Lyborick, wasn’t it? He was the one that Khun talked to when they sent out the communication earlier.

Viole didn’t answer right away, looking at the commander and letting his hair fall over his eyes in the instinctual need to hide his face a little. Bam quickly tried to figure out what to do. He wasn’t expecting to _talk_ to anybody! Just have the usual man v. spaceships battle. He didn’t know how to make this work in the plan…but then again, Viole never talked much, anyways. Should he attack first?

“Where’s the rest of your forces?” Lyborick continued, his head tilted slightly upwards. “I assume you’re not the entire army.”

Viole stayed silent, but he didn’t attack…yet. He tried to keep one eye on the people outside their ship and the other one on the fleet itself—they might be trying to create a diversion to pull away and get to the ground…

“I want to speak to your commander.”

Bam’s mind went blank for a second. Speak to…his commander. Right. “You can speak to me,” he spoke up finally, trying to sound calm and confident enough to let the Jahad commander make the right incorrect assumptions.

“Fine then.” Lyborick accepted that, his hands clasped behind his back but shoulders tense. “I have a proposition for you. We know your forces have already laid claim to this base, but I can assure you, it would not be in your interest to fight the full Armada. Reinforcements will come very quickly. Hence the proposition: you can have the base and the squadron without a fight, along control over the planets in this sector, but we want the Red Lion.”

Besides the initial shock at being given a deal of any kind in the first place, the first thing that ran through Bam’s mind was anger, pure and simple. Were they really that ready to sell the squadron out? Was this entire region _that_ unimportant to them? Was this move just this commander’s doing—or are these the orders of Central? They had hardly even begun to fight yet! The 134th had fought for this place for so many years; they had comrades who _died_ fighting here, and they were just…going to give that up?

Viole maintained his distance from Lyborick and the other two, silently watching their movements, but it seemed they could still hear him well enough to talk. So fine, he’ll talk. He just had to shove aside his own thoughts—he was supposed to be acting a part right now. “That’s not a fair trade,” he stated finally, quickly realizing the fallacy when he moved to look at this from FUG’s perspective. Red was a superweapon in their eyes; wasn’t that worth more than a little bit of land that Jahad didn’t even care about?

“We’re not asking for the pilot,” Lyborick clarified. “But I assure you, if we enter this fight, we will capture the Lion and pilot both. This is in your interest—mutual non-destruction. You still have the Black Lion, so it would be impossible for the Jahad Empire to complete Voltron. And without a pilot, it is also impossible for us to use the Red Lion against you.”

Bam blinked. The…Black Lion? Wait, FUG had the Black Lion, too!? He didn’t know that! Well, then again, he didn’t know that they had Red either before a few days ago, so that was really a moot point. But…was that true?

“You can’t have it,” Bam answered with grave surety, as really, what other answer could he give? If they wanted to fight him for it, so be it. That’s what he was here for—to fight them. “The Lion is non-negotiable.”

“That’s disappointing to hear.”

Bam almost got too distracted to notice when the sudden bolt of lightning shot like cannon fire straight at him. He dodged quickly, losing his balance as he did so, while Lyborick switched into a fighting stance, the platform he stood on floating in place while his subordinates jumped forward to get at Bam.

Bam formed a spear of quintessence and struck a blow at one, dodging another. He needed to move fast. Close quarters were not a great idea for him, and while he was busy fighting, the ships were moving. They would probably be on the ground soon. Would the others be gone by then? Were they gone already? He hasn’t gotten a message from them yet—he was worried. The plan depending on them not being around…

_“Bam!”_

Bam startled at the sudden familiar voice. It was them! He dashed out the way of an attack, fired a wide blast back at the soldiers while he moved as if retreating.

“Hatz!” He called back once out of earshot. Hatz wasn’t exactly the person he would be expecting to do the communications, but he wasn’t complaining. He was just glad to get word from them at all. “Is everything okay?”

_“Yes, stay right there, we’re coming to you.”_

“You’re…wait, what!?” Bam’s voice rose in alarm as he threw up a quintessence shield against a long-distance lightning attack.

_“It’ll be about ninety seconds.”_

“H-Hold on!” Bam stuttered in a moment of alarm and confusion. “The army’s still here! This wasn’t the plan—I only just started fighting!” He was supposed to hold back the fleet until they inevitably broke through and then retreat—that _was_ the plan, right? Did he miss something? “You guys are supposed to be gone! I was going to catch up! Who’s ‘we’!?”

“The plan changed, and it’s just me and Red.”

Just…?

The two fighters grew closer to Bam and his shield, and just as Bam began to switch his stance from defense to attack, he felt from his head to his feet the air-shuddering energy of a beam passing overhead. He looked ahead at the blinding white light and watched as the ship it hit shatter into pieces on impact with a deafening roar.

Bam was knocked back a little by the close proximity of the blast. His pursuers were startled, their previously passive expressions brought back to life with a touch of terror as their attention moved from Bam to the thing behind him.

Bam was unsurprised to look behind him and see Red’s giant form floating there. He did have a slight moment of surprise when in his brief moment of knocked-back drifting Red went and ate him.

He quickly found himself on the floor of Red’s cockpit as the lion’s jaw clamped down and sent him unceremoniously tumbling in. Bam blinked from the whiplash and his severe lack of choice in the matter. “Hatz, what are we—?”

“Hang on to something.”

Well, that was the least amount of warning Bam had ever received for going into warp drive in his entire life, he thinks. It was second only to the first time Hatz was in the pilot’s seat of the super-fast warping lion, and that time, Bam’s consciousness was iffy. This time, his eyes were wide and awake as his body slammed against the back wall of the cockpit, feeling simultaneously weightless and immovable with the force of sheer speed. He struggled to reach for a ledge to grab onto, but just as he did and pulled himself up, his body dropped back to the ground and it was over.

The scene in the screen overhead turned from the loud space-distortion to a tranquil, starry black as Red began to drift. Hatz turned around to face him. “Bam, are you okay?”

Bam groaned in response. “Before or after the warp?” He smiled a little. “Yeah, I’m fine. Where are we?”

“The Sixty-third sector,” he responded with the name of a region quite the distance away from where they were. “Everyone else is on the battleship nearby.”

Nearby? Bam shook his head a little in confusion. But the battleship didn’t have a warp drive…? “How…?”

“Other ships can go through Red’s wormhole.” Hatz shrugged as if that wasn’t an absolutely huge deal. Right, the Lion’s warp was a little different than others in that way; it created a wormhole just in front of itself that presumably disappeared as soon as it passed through (or so they assumed, since none of FUG’s and now Jahad’s ships followed them through it). “It just takes a lot of quintessence to hold it up. Khun talked to me about the idea beforehand. It seemed like a good way to get some distance between us and the base and get you out of there as soon as possible.”

Bam shook his head, releasing a breath he didn’t realize he was holding. “Yes…but now they’ve seen Red and they know she can warp. Thanks, but, I really would’ve been fine holding out for a while longer.”

Hatz blinked at him like he had completely missed the obvious. “You really think Khun would’ve let you do that? Or any of us?”

Bam paused for a second, then smiled, laughing a little under his breath. “No, I guess not.”

“Good.” Hatz turned back to the controls. “Because we’re here.”

“Bam!”

Bam found himself predictably accosted as soon as he stepped onto the ship’s bridge, this time with Endorsi leading the charge, running up to him and grabbing him very suddenly on both shoulders as Hatz much more easily sidled past them and onto the deck.

“What the hell were you _thinking_ , coming up with a plan like that!?” she barked in his face.

“Umm…”

“You could have _died_ , idiot!”

Bam stared into his friend’s very close, very intense gaze and couldn’t help but smile. “It’s good to see you too, Endorsi!” he greeted with a laugh. “Is everyone here?” He looked past her to the rest of the small crowd forming in the tight space.

Endorsi released him and moved her hands to her hips, shaking her head. “Yeah, they’re here.”

“Bam, you’re back!” He was accosted by Wangnan next, who pulled him jerkily into a quick side hug before letting him go, a wide, relieved grin in his expression. Bam smiled back at him and the rest of their faces: Ehwa and Anaak, Miseng and Prince, Arkraptor and Shibisu and also Khun, pushing past the rest of them from the deck.

“Took you two long enough.” He grinned in amusement, but Bam could see clearly by his eyes that he was very worried. Bam would have to apologize later for worrying them all so much, but…as far as he could tell, it _did_ work.

“BLACK TURTLE! I want to see Black Turtle!!!”

Bam stifled a snort of laughter as Khun was very unceremoniously almost toppled over by a small Rak barging through, surprise and profound irritation taking over his more collected expression from before. “Watch it, you brute!”

Rak ignored him thoroughly. “Black Turtle, are you hurt!?”

“I-I’m fine!” Bam smiled and scratched the back of his neck. He knew that Rak never could be in his true form when on ships like this—they were just too small for him—but it never stopped being kind of funny when he got worked up like this as an alligator half the size of everyone else. It was good to know that, even after five years, Rak hadn’t changed one bit.

“Yeah, well,” Khun spoke as he stood back up and regained his composure. “He will be if we stop crowding him like this. Come on, let’s get back to the main deck.”

It felt good to get settled down again and see everyone’s faces here and accounted for. Even in the somewhat larger space of the battleship’s main deck, it was rather crowded with literally the entire squadron on board, sharing space with the pilot and copilot’s seats and control panels, intact with the exception of the completely gutted out navigation system. Bam assumed it was left behind to keep them from being tracked, and they would just follow Red and her navigation instead. But at the moment, no one was flying. The ship, along with the Red Lion, was parked on a slow asteroid for the time being as a resting point, particularly for Red, who was apparently almost completely out of quintessence after the stunt she pulled, creating two wormholes in a row. That was one of the special things about Voltron that as far as Bam knew, neither Jahad nor FUG had been able to fully replicate—it ran on quintessence alone, no fuel required. It just took it from the air, apparently. But then…it might also have something to do with the pilot? Bam couldn’t help but notice that right now, Hatz looked completely exhausted, which is to say he was still standing and talking alongside everyone else, but that didn’t mean anything—Bam could see it in his eyes and in his slowed movements. With so many people here, it was impossible for Bam to tell if the quintessence coming from him had gone faint or not, but still, he was sure he would be fine with rest. Bam just hoped for everyone’s sake that they all would get the chance to.

“…we can get to the port in Fergium by tomorrow, at least,” Khun was in the process of explaining their next moves, or rather, each individual’s choice of a next move. Bam could feel the tension rise as everyone listened. He was stressed about this, too. Everything had happened so fast today—no one had the chance to adequately think about anything, and now that the dust and the adrenaline had settled, Bam too felt the guilt return over his part in this minor catastrophe—which didn’t feel like one, necessarily, given that it ended with everyone alive and uncaptured, Red included, but it wasn’t exactly a fantastic turn of events, either.

Khun continued his spill. “If anyone wants to, you can leave on the spot once we get there; I’m not going to stop you,” he assured genuinely. With everyone being so accustomed to hearing the squad commander speak when he had something else up his sleeve, they would surely be able to tell that right now, he meant it exactly as he said it. “There’s plenty of transport ships in Fergium that can take you where you want to go, and if it’s to Central, you can get there fairly cheap. Just now that as of today, the 134th is finished. Period. You can join another squadron, quit the army altogether, go to cooking class and become a baker—I really do not care. It’s your life—deal with it like you want to. Just know that officially, I’m the only one to blame for this incident.” He pointed to himself, his eyes staring each one of them down one by one. “If anyone asks, it was _me_ , got it? Not yourself, not anyone in this squad; I’m in charge, so it’s _me_ who fooled the Army into thinking an attack existed that didn’t. Or I’m the one who collaborated with FUG, whichever story they like best. If you tell them that, it will be completely fine by me. Tell them anything else, and I will _find you_.”

Khun’s threat lingered for a few seconds, but Bam was sure that being tracked down by an angry commander-turned-fugitive for not telling the Jahad higher-ups that it was all his fault was not exactly the first thing on everyone’s minds. There was a tense dead silence as everyone was surely well-immersed in thought, and then, Endorsi laughed.

“Ha! Wow…that’s what you’re going with, huh?” Her stare at Khun was harsh and probing, her hands tense at her hips. “You _really_ think that after all of this, we’re just going to pack up and say sayonara?”

“You should have told me,” Hatz spoke up after she did, his body visibly tense to add to the tiredness. His volume increased a little. “You should have told me they were going after Red! I would have just _left_ , before any of this happened!”

“Well, it’s too late for that, isn’t it?” Khun dismissed, voice both tired and unapologetic. “We—”

“But I agree with Endorsi,” Hatz promptly cut him off, speaking with conviction as if this were the simplest thing in the world. “I’m not leaving. Bam and Anaak have no choice but to stay on the run, right? They can’t just go back. Then, I’m staying with them.”

“I can take care of myself…” Anaak mumbled, arms crossed and glaring at the wall. But…it was true, though. They’ve been hiding her existence all this time; what was supposed to happen now that the whole squadron had essentially just committed treason? (Or, the ones that were going to stay, anyways). And on Bam’s part…

“I…I don’t want anyone to feel like they have to stay because of me.” Bam felt he needed to be clear on that, as much as his more selfish side didn’t want to say goodbye to a single one of them, even the ones who had joined during his absence that he hadn’t gotten to know yet. “Truth is, I really shouldn’t stick around with any of you—even though I do want to!” he added on quickly. “It’s just…I don’t know if FUG is going to come after me or not. They might try to do something about Hatz and Red too…and I don’t exactly know what to do to help with that, but I might be able to distract them, at least. I’d just hate to cause both Jahad and FUG to be after the rest of you, when just one of them would be hard enough. Either way, I don’t think I can avoid going into hiding, at this point. Also, just to let everyone know, I _have_ fought other sections of Jahad’s army before, so some people might recognize me. Just so you know.”

“Pfft, save the loner talk,” Anaak cut in, sounding irritated. “You said it yourself. Both FUG and Jahad are going to want Red, and if Hatz sticks with us and doesn’t just go off on his own—which I’m _not_ telling you to do, to be clear, sword-boy.” She gave a very pointed glare at Hatz, just in case he was going to change his mind. “For me, I don’t care if I sound selfish—being a fugitive alone sucks. If I have a choice to stay with you idiots, I’m staying with you idiots.”

Shibisu raised his hand at that with slight laugh. “Heh, same here.”

“Ha!” Rak bellowed loudly, pointing at Khun. “Blue Turtle should listen to Lizard Turtle! You too, Black Turtle!” He crossed his arms and shook his head. “Stop making things so complicated! Why shouldn’t we stay together? You are an idiot turtle, but I will stay with you!”

Khun sighed expressively, hand covering his face. “Yeah, whatever you say.”

“Right…” Goseng spoke up after him, her voice hesitant as if she were still thinking. “I see. Then, in that case, if you all need help, please let me know.” She looked up, the overhead light glinting off her glasses. “I’ll stay long enough to make sure everyone is healed up and would be fine with me gone. But…I think the best thing for me will be to leave at Fergium and take Miseng and Prince with me. I’ll go somewhere remote and start a practice. If any of you end up in trouble, I won’t mind harboring you for a time as long as it doesn’t put them in danger.” She gestured to the two younger members again, to both of their immediate surprise.

“H-huh!?” Prince stammered. “Who said I wanted to leave!?”

“No, Goseng’s right.” Khun nodded, seeming satisfied with the response. “In case you haven’t picked it up yet, we’re about to become fugitives from the Empire. As in, _the_ Empire. That’s dangerous, and there’s no reason you two especially should get involved. You’re too young for this.”

“ _What_ did you say!?” Prince took special offense to that.

“Also, about that.” Boro raised his hand before Prince could say anything else. “I really want to know; what exactly _is_ your plan, anyways? Assuming we all stay a team and break ties with Jahad altogether, what happens next? We just run away?”

“Good question,” Khun noted with a nod. “Unless someone has a better idea, we have two options: one being that we get a ship at Fergium and, simple as that, just _leave_ the Empire. Believe it or not, the universe is a tiny bit bigger than Jahad. We will have to plan on being pursued, but eventually, we can find other lands. Maybe get to Wolhaiksong territory. Other option:” Khun held up two fingers. “We do that same thing, but instead of evading the Armada in whatever piece of junk we manage to get our hands on in Fergium, we fly in an _actual_ quality starship. That is, we go to Central and steal it from my dad,” he explained very matter-of-factly, to a number of people’s very understandable surprise.

“Whoa, time out!” Ehwa made a ‘T’ with her hands, a little flustered. “Go _towards_ Central!? To the people who want to kill us, or something? And why steal from your dad!?”

“Yeah Khun, what the heck?” Wangnan agreed.

Khun smirked, suddenly looking more characteristic of himself than the serious tone from earlier. “Oh don’t feel bad, my father’s an asshole.”

“But why _him_?” Ehwa pressed, unsatisfied.

Bam looked at Khun, wondering if he was going to bring it up. He knew from their conversation earlier that a big reason he was targeting Eduan specifically was because of the Blue Lion. But, Khun was right—there was no guarantee any of them would be able to pilot it. They couldn’t really base their whole plan off of that, although it would be a nice addition. The thing was, there were probably easier ways of getting a warship. Should they just go an easier route, something safer than going to Central? They had no other reasons to…

“FUG is attacking Central in five days,” Bam spoke up suddenly, his own eyes going wide as he remembered that thing he had almost completely forgot. Predictably, every eye in the room turned to him as he said that, quite surprised. Khun looked the most surprised. He was probably a little shocked Bam didn’t bring this up earlier…add that to the list of things Bam had to apologize for later. He just honestly wasn’t thinking about it. “It…it’s possible their plans might change, because I’m gone,” he explained awkwardly, looking down to avoid their eyes. “I…uhh…I was supposed to be a part of it, but I’m sure I’m replaceable.”

“Wait… _Central_?” Shibisu echoed incredulously. “But haven’t they been only attacking fringe bases? Why _there_?”

“They’ve been developing their warping technology,” Bam explained, realizing how crazy this must sound. “They can send a fleet at their doorstep in seconds, easily. They already move the planet the base with the Workshop is on—the place where I was? That one? If you were wondering why you haven’t seen that planet there before…that’s why. They warp it to different locations regularly, besides the cloaking.” He paused, then shook his head to regain his thoughts. “But, that’s not the point. I don’t know exactly why they were striking Central, but I think it’s just supposed to be a message to Jahad. ‘Don’t mess with us; look what we can do’: that sort of thing. The attack will be fast before they leave, I’m sure. But…well…that might want to factor into our decision.”

Khun nodded, the shock of the news seeming to pass over as he entered back into ‘planning’ mode. “Right, so in that case, you’re saying we can use the chaos to our advantage?”

“Well…?” Bam’s tone did a pitched shrug as he wondered, what exactly _did_ he mean? What were they all supposed to do with that information? Everyone was still watching him, as if they expected him to have an idea, but his mind was blank. All he could go back to were his thoughts on this attack from back when he was still in FUG, back when he thought he would be _in_ it, and that…wasn’t much. He didn’t think he had a choice. He didn’t like it, but he didn’t have a choice. He just did what his higher-ups wanted. End of story.

Except, it wasn’t that way anymore. He wasn’t there. He was _here_. He didn’t have to be Viole. It wasn’t like he was sure he could truly be _Bam_ again, either, but…he would be something.

“A…lot of civilians were going to die, in that attack,” he stammered. He felt like a hypocrite. He killed plenty of people— _hundreds,_ even—for FUG without hardly giving it a thought. And being a soldier of Jahad wasn’t much better. The Empire enslaved and killed entire races. FUG fought back against the Empire, but at what cost? What did Luslec even _want_? Bam didn’t know; he wasn’t given the opportunity of asking questions before, and as much time as he spent wanting to simply _not_ exist so that he couldn’t do all the things he did, he was here anyways. He had no answers, but he did have a choice, and he did have people who would listen. “To be honest, I don’t really want that to happen.”

There was a short pause in the room as people seemed to wrap their heads around what he was getting at. This time, Anaak was the one to speak up first. “So you want to beat up FUG.”

“Ah…yes and no.” Bam laughed nervously. What was he saying, exactly? How did he derail the conversation this much? “I understand that kind of puts us all in more danger than we’re already in. Really, I had just forgotten about the attack before just now, so I figured I should bring it up. I was only thinking out loud, sorry.” He smiled awkwardly, rubbing his forehead so he could come back down to earth, so to speak. “We don’t actually have to do anything about that.”

“I get it!” Rak announced loudly, entirely ignoring Bam’s act of almost backing out. “We get a fleet first, and then we battle with FUG when they arrive!”

“Hold on, I would like to avoid any more ‘battles’,” Khun stepped in with air quotes with the intent of derailing Rak’s dreams. “But…” he trailed off for a second, looking at Bam. “I guess, opportunity allowing, we _could_ do something about FUG, in the process.”

“Hmm.” Endorsi nodded, looking satisfied. “So we’re definitely raiding your dad’s hangar, then?”

“ _We_ ,” Khun stressed with a sweeping gesture, “are not doing anything _yet_. All we’re doing is deciding, as individuals, whether or not you want to leave now or board the S.S. Disaster with the rest of us for whatever reason. That’s _it_.” He made another pointed glare at Rak in particular, but also at everyone else. Bam smiled. Khun really did care about them a lot, didn’t he?

“Probably, now’s the time to let everyone think about it,” Shibisu added in helpfully. “I get this must be a lot to take in all at once. You can just decide by the time we get to Fergium. Hey Hatz, how long do you think it’ll be until Red is ready?”

Hatz shrugged. “In the morning, probably.”

Khun nodded in agreement. “So we’ll start moving then.”

At that point, people started to disperse, with a few other words said between them along the way. Not that there were many places to go while being confined to the one ship, but they could try. Bam watched everyone as they started to move around, wondering what they might be thinking right now. It was both a relief and not much of a surprise to him that the people he had known, and who had known each other, since the training corps days would be set on sticking together through this: Khun, Rak, Endorsi, Hatz, Shibisu, Anaak, and himself. The people who had joined their squadron since then, however, were understandably more of a question. Wangnan, Ehwa, and Arkraptor didn’t end up having much of a chance to speak during the meeting just now, so he wasn’t sure exactly what they were thinking, but Bam did hope (selfishly, again) that he wouldn’t have to say goodbye to them. Those three were there in the time before Bam had been taken by FUG, and they were his friends, too. Meanwhile, there was Goseng, Prince, and Miseng, who had become part of the family in the time he had been gone. Same with Boro and Sachi. It looked like the former three might be leaving them, which was understandable, although he was sad that he couldn’t have gotten to know them better. And then there was Boro and Sachi, the two who had been together in that other squadron and ended up here as a result of a story Bam did not know yet. He didn’t know their opinion on this, either.

He noticed that Endorsi, Shibisu, and Anaak had come up to Khun to talk after the meeting’s unofficial end, so Bam decided to quietly go over and join them. Apparently, it was this mythical starship raid that was the subject of debate.

“…there isn’t _anywhere_ else in Central that would be a better target?” Endorsi had one eyebrow raised, questioning the validity of Khun’s plan. Meanwhile, Bam noticed that Shibisu looked a little suspicious—there was a chance Khun might have mentioned to him about the Blue Lion before, too. On her part, Anaak didn’t look like she cared one bit about if the plan was ‘easy’ or not.

“If he wants to stick it to his dad, let the man stick it to his dad.” Anaak shrugged as if it were no big deal. Her smile then turned mocking. “Unless you’re too _scared_.”

Endorsi rubbed her temples dramatically with a loud sigh. “Ugh, I’m not _saying_ that I can’t handle it; I’m just confirming that our illustrious leader still has two brain cells to rub together.”

“Debatable,” Khun conceded with a smirk. “But like I said, if _you_ have a brilliant plan, let me hear it. Otherwise, we’re making a run for it.”

“Oh no,” Endorsi sought to make herself clear. “We’re _going_ on your little caper, but I want details.”

“Working on it,” Khun dismissed with a wave of his hand, apparently quite done with full explanations for the day. “It depends on who we can get to help, really.”

“Who we get from the squadron?” Shibisu asked to clarify.

“That, and from the inside,” Khun remarked casually, but Bam could tell he had been thinking long and hard about this, although maybe not to the best of assurances. “If that happens, anyways. Just saying…it would help.”

“Who, someone from your family?” Endorsi probed.

Khun paused for a second, his mouth twisting a little. “One,” he replied, although he didn’t seem so sure about it. Bam gave him a slight smile of sympathy. He could guess that there was a good chance he was thinking of Maria right now. From what he knew, the two of them _were_ close as kids, at least for a little while. Then Maria got him to help her become one of Jahad’s Princesses, and just like that, he hardly heard from her ever again. From what Khun told him, she _did_ put in a good word for him that led him to being appointed commander of the 134th, so that was something? But, well…Bam remembered telling Khun back then that surely, she would come around, but now, it felt more like she just wanted him for his help. So to be a part of this thing now? It was highly unlikely. Really, who else would risk breaking the rules for them?

Then, Khun froze for a split second, and his smile widened. His eyes betrayed perfect confidence, but this time, Bam had no guesses to what he was thinking. His eyes met Bam’s with a knowing smirk. “Two.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To fugitive or not to fugitive, that is the question.
> 
> So...yeah, battle with Jahad, round one! It's a fairly short conflict, all things considered; I just didn't imagine that they would let our dear self-sacrificing boy Bam fight alone for that long. Sorry if things seemed a little rushed or confusing; basically, the battle at the Sawfish was being watched, and Lyborick's crew was tasked with sending a single ship to confront the 134th about the Red Lion, with a fleet for backup if necessary, except that Khun pushed them all the way by faking the FUG attack, so they sent the fleet at once, all so that they would believe that the Red Lion was connected with FUG and not themselves. But that ruse would inevitably be short-lived, and Khun knows it.
> 
> Anyways! A bit of a turning point here for our kiddos. The OG crew I imagined would be all-in for this 'stay together and be fugitives' business, especially since Bam and Anaak aren't going to have much of a choice in the matter, but for the others who are relatively newer to the team, it might be a bit more a question to chew on first. Especially now that Grand Theft Spaceship has been thrown onto the table. So, we'll get to see more of their thoughts next chapter! 
> 
> So, whoever might Khun be planning to throw into his scheme, besides Maria? Any guesses, hmm?
> 
> Also, side note: I started writing this story remembering, incorrectly, that the lions from Voltron had a warp drive feature. But then I checked the wiki, and actually, that was just something Blue did in episode one? For plot convenience, I guess? Any other time they warped, it was from the Castle of Lions. So...I'm ignoring that and doing what I want, ha ha. For this story, the lions can warp at will, but it takes a ton of quintessence to do it, so it can't be done all the time.
> 
> Once again, thank you all so much for reading! Sorry this update was so late; I promise the next one will be up faster, as long as IRL stuff doesn't get in the way!


	6. The End of Something

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aguero has an errand to run, and everybody else is left with way too much time to think.

_"Come, mutineers!_  
_Come do your worst tonight!_  
_Feast on my tears and feed your appetite_  
_I have no fear_  
_I shed it with my rights_  
_I leave you here_  
_I leave you staring at the sight of my remains"_

—Attalus, "The Breath Before the Plunge"

* * *

**1 st Sector, Central**

For the record, Khun Ran was not planning on doing absolutely anything productive today. He was going to do mindless training, and when that got boring, he would go and watch TV or something with the rest of his team. They earned it, after being away on a mission for three whole weeks to assassinate one particularly tricky rebel leader, a task which left them all more or less exhausted by the end. Not that Ran was _exhausted_ , per se—he only passed out for a little while by overusing his lightning for that last fight; that was completely different. No big deal, really.

The only problem that resulted from that mission was little accusations from their superiors of ‘destroying half the town’ or ‘not being secret enough and that’s why they’re all treating him as a martyr’ or other shit like that. Well, excuse _them_ for having issues with the guy with superpowers! That damn earthbender could make canyons and mountains in the blink of an eye, and all that on a rocky planet, no less. Well, he was dead now—happy?

Ran punched the bag with three consecutive hits and paused to listen to the chains rattle. He was getting bored already. Maybe he wanted food?

“Hey Ran!” Xia Xia’s voice called from the hallway before she burst into the training hall, her rabbit ears erect and stiff as if something important was happening, but not something bad, or else she would be more panicked.

Ran sighed. If nothing was on fire, there was only about a fifty percent chance he cared. “What is it?”

Xia Xia responded by pointing energetically back down the hallway. “Your brother is here! He wants to talk to you—as in, right _now_ talk to you!”

“Which one?” Ran asked dryly. She really had to be more specific than that.

“Aguero?” she answered with a small shrug of confusion. “That’s what he said, I guess. No idea who the heck _that_ is, but whatever, he’s obviously _your_ family,” she added, pointing to her hair as if to remind him how much that’s a dead giveaway.

Aguero. Well, make that zero percent. “Yeah, no.”

“What do you mean, ‘no’?” Xia Xia’s expression quickly switched to ‘irritated’. “He’s literally right _here_!”

“Mm, not in the mood to talk to ‘family’. Besides, I’m busy. I’m in the middle of a workout.”

Xia Xia’s eyes turned level at the boy. “Really?”

Ran sighed expressively. “Just tell him to call back later or something.”

“No Ran, he’s _here_ ,” Xia Xia stressed again, staring Ran down with her hands on her hips until Ran looked back at her. “At the front door. Or, inside of it.”

Ran blinked for a few seconds. Here. Aguero, the guy who left home in the mother of all bad terms, who ended up joining the army and getting stationed in nowhere-ville (probably by choice), who hadn’t shown his face _once_ in Central for what, ten years? Twelve? Ran didn’t know. He really didn’t care. Maybe Aguero did come back and he just didn’t know it. He would likely be in contact with his sister, Maschenny, for his job if nothing else. And now, _that_ Aguero was on his doorstep. In Central. Granted, they lived on the outskirts, and on a subterranean level, at that, but _still_.

Ran wordlessly shoved past Xia Xia and into the hallway. She made a loud sound of annoyance but followed him into the hall anyways, towards the front door.

And lo and behold, there he was. There was no where to sit, so Aguero just stood there in the front hallway like he belonged there, wearing this stupid long cloak and a dumb slight grin upon seeing Ran.

“What the fuck are you doing here.” He toned the question more like an irritated demand.

“Nice to see you too.” Aguero, predictably, was completely undeterred, still smiling.

Ran rolled his eyes dramatically. “Get on with it.”

“Right, is there somewhere we can talk?” he asked, looking to him and then to Xia Xia. “But the rest of your team might want to know afterwards, if you don’t tell me to take a hike before then.” He smirked.

Ran leveled his eyes at his unfortunately-taller-than-him idiot brother. “They’re busy.”

“What, us?” Xia Xia inserted with a laugh. “We’re not busy. Dan and Novick are just killing each other over Mario Kart right now.”

Ran turned back to his teammate with a glare. “ _Thank_ you, Xia Xia,” his tone dripped acid. “If you will excuse me, I’ll talk to my _dear_ brother alone first.” He grabbed Aguero by the hand and marched back down where he came from—that is, to the training hall, assuming that the others were occupying the living quarters at the moment. This place was their ‘base’, in a way, innocuous from the outside and serving as both home and work in one, since no one really bothered to go back to whatever ‘home’ they came from in between jobs. Being a Black Ops team for the government, it wasn’t like they could talk about what they did to anyone else anyways. So on that note, Ran had more reasons (or excuses) than one to avoid talking to his family. So why in hell _he_ decided to show up _here_ of all places, Ran couldn’t begin to guess.

No, he _could_ guess. Aguero probably wanted something from him. And—surprise surprise—he was right.

“I’m raiding the family mansion,” Aguero started off in a flippant tone the moment they were alone with the punching bags and weights (add one more punching bag to the tally), _very_ suspiciously casually. He obviously wasn’t wasting any time.

Ran blinked at him like he’d lost his mind (he probably had). “You’re going to _what_!?”

“Raid the hangar, more specifically,” he added.

“And why are you telling _me_ this!?”

“I want your help.”

Yeah, he had _really_ lost his mind. The guy disappears for years, and when he comes back, he decides he’s going to steal from their father. Which is like…fair, but what the hell? Wasn’t he supposed to be a squadron commander or some shit like that? Did Ran miss something? “Yeah, you’re going to have to tell me what the hell just happened.” Ran was about to get a headache from this.

Aguero shrugged as if saying ‘okay, fair.’ “All you need to know is long story short, I’m not in the army anymore and I might be on their ‘wanted’ list in a day or two, if not already. From the looks of it, news hasn’t traveled this far yet, so either they’re covering it up or they’re being slow.”

Ran really wanted to know what that ‘news’ was, exactly, but then he remembered he didn’t care. He let out a huff of air. “Took them long enough.” Yeah, he knew what Aguero had been doing.

Aguero remained unfazed. “Yep. So that’s it, I just need a ship and a way to get in. I’ll pay you and your team, if you want to bring them in on this.”

Ran rolled his eyes. “Who says they’re my ‘team’? We’re just roommates, genius, so buzz off.”

At that moment, Aguero’s smile morphed from stupid confidence to something on the verge of evil, and Ran knew, deep down, he was in for it. “Oh no, I _know_ you’re a team.”

Ran’s irritated eyes turned into a full glare. “You don’t know anything.”

“I know about Lako,” he started, tone casual and flippant again. “And Verida, and Tyreen, and the Gorgon incident, and Jubana, and do you want me to continue on all the other _illegal_ things you’ve done? Yeah, I know _exactly_ who you are.”

“It’s government work.” Ran bristled. And it’s not like they were a total secret, either.

“They won’t back you up if your cover’s blown.” Aguero was unfortunately very correct about that one.

“You’re blackmailing me.”

“Mm-hmm.”

“You little shit.”

“Yep.” Aguero was totally, wholly unapologetic.

“Well I don’t care.” Ran shrugged, brushing it all off. So _that’s_ why Aguero was so confident telling him all of this so easily. Of course the smart-ass knew all these things. Well, it didn’t matter. “You’re a fugitive; you just said so. What can you do?”

Aguero shrugged. “You really want to find out?”

Oh, this was rich. “And who’s to say I won’t betray you in the process?”

“I don’t know; will you?”

Ran was so done with this. He turned away, eager for something to hit. “I don’t get it; what do you even need me for? Can’t you still get into the mansion on your own?”

Aguero shook his head. “Kiseia blacklisted me.”

“She’s still mad, huh?”

“Oh yeah.”

Ran sighed and shook his head. “Well, that’s your fault.” Seriously, Ran had no reason to care about Aguero’s problems, although, admittedly, he didn’t actually believe that it was his fault that his sister killed herself. He would blame their fucked-up family as a whole on that one. “This is so stupid,” he added after a short pause, just in case Aguero forgot.

“So, will you do it?” Aguero probed yet again.

Ran cut his eyes in response. “Stop screwing me; I know you’re broke.”

“True. I’ll pay you _after_ the raid,” Aguero clarified.

“Yeah, well you know your problem?” Ran wasn’t having this anymore, so he might as well spell it out. Blackmail or no blackmail. “You’re always trying to get on top.” He got back in his half-brother’s face and narrowed his eyes at him, although Aguero was undeterred. He was reminded of those times a million years ago when they actually talked to each other, when they were still little more than kids, and Aguero would be spouting nonsense that it was hard to believe _he_ actually believed. “You talk about becoming the family head, or making things different, or getting stronger, or some whatever but you never actually do _anything_ because you’re too busy moping around or scheming some shit that will benefit you _nothing_. And yes, I’m talking about Maria. I don’t _get_ what you’re trying to do. I don’t know what crap you’re trying to pull stealing a starship, whether you’re sticking it to Dad or starting a rebellion—I don’t care. Just know, since you’re _so_ knowledgeable about _my_ life, that _I’m_ the one they call to kill people like _you_ if you really try to start something. Maybe you’re on the hit list already; I don’t know. But if you’re _really_ smart enough to pull this kind of crap off all the time, I really don’t get why you’re still dumb enough to not have a reason _why_.”

Aguero’s expression was unreadable. He released a sigh as Ran stopped to catch his breath. “Finished?” he asked testily.

“Sure. Whatever.” Ran shrugged.

“Well, I hate to disappoint.” Aguero let out a long, tired breath again. “But if you’re looking for a bigger plan, I don’t have one. I’m just trying to protect my team,” he finished simply…sincerely.

Ran narrowed his eyes quizzically at his brother. He sounded…genuine? Like that was it? Seriously? “Your team…your squadron? They’re still with you?”

“Some, at least,” he responded cryptically.

“They haven’t figured out they’re just a bunch of pawns yet?”

“Is it that way with you?” Aguero asked probingly without missing a beat.

No kidding, Ran was taken back a little with that one. Aguero really knew how to flip a question around, he’ll give him that. But what was he talking about? The way Ran felt about _his_ team? That wasn’t even the same thing. A squadron of soldiers was one thing, and what he was…they were…well, they were closer knit just as a rule. Nothing special. It’s just how it was. So what if he trusted those three nutjobs with his life and would murder more aggressively than usual if anything happened to any one of them? It was _natural_. It wasn’t like he had feelings, and Aguero was definitely _not_ turning this argument into a feelings argument. Aguero, with friends? That’ll be the day.

But then…did any of that matter? If Ran was being honest with himself, he was only dragging this conversation on because he was being salty on principle. He already lost the moment the blackmail thing got brought up. And, it wasn’t like he _didn’t_ have anything against pulling this off _just_ to stick it to their dad, who didn’t use his stupid fleet much at all anyways. Half those ships hardly left Central, and it wasn’t like Central was going to up and get attacked or anything. Besides, knowing Aguero, the plan at least had the potential of being not boring.

“Come on.” Ran started walking, indicating for Aguero, after a brief moment of surprise, to follow him.

“You accept my offer?” Aguero asked while catching up to him in the hallway, sounding slightly confused and unsure as they headed for the living quarters.

Ran smirked with a huff of satisfaction at giving the smart-ass an ever-so-brief moment of confusion. “Yep, but you have to run it by the others first.” If A.A. was going to pull the ‘do it for the team’ card, then so would he. “And mention what the hell we’re actually doing; that would also be good.”

Ran opened the door just in time to see a game controller get yeeted across the room, the associated scene being Xia Xia’s self-satisfied smirk while lounging on the couch, Novick calmly making coffee, and Dan standing in front of the T.V., about to pull his hair out.

“I WAS RIGHT _THERE_!”

“Hmm, so sad.”

“Shut up, I know _you’re_ the one who blue-shelled me! Xia—”

“Eh-ah!” Xia Xia wagged her finger. “Remember the bet! Novick, can you grab the Jell-O from the fridge for me?”

Idiots. By his side, Ran could hear Aguero start to snicker, which he promptly cut off with a glare. “Not one word, A.A. Not one word.”

Well, time to cut them off from whatever the hell they were doing, a passing thought leading Ran to become slightly curious if Aguero’s little ‘team’ was half as crazy as his was.

* * *

**63 rd Sector, Outside Fergium**

“Wangnan…what are you doing here?”

“What, me? Uhh…thinking?”

“In the engine room?”

“Y-yeah! It’s nice in here!”

“You’re sweating like a monkey.”

Ehwa scrunched her nose at him and sighed, standing over where Wangnan was currently sitting against the wall in his own personal remote corner place amidst the bulky machinery, to which he laughed nervously in response. She _did_ have a point that it was like a sauna in here even without anything running, but he was just kind of wandering around and then, well, this happened! Perfect spot alone. “So…why are _you_ here?”

“Fire affinity, remember?” she reminded him matter-of-factly. “The heat doesn’t bother me.”

“Ah, makes sense.” He nodded.

Ehwa exhaled again and moved to sit down on the floor beside him, looking massively tired, and understandably so. Wangnan wondered if she got any sleep last night because, well, _he_ sure didn’t. And it was still super early when they all got moving again to get to Fergium. Now, they were all still in the ship, but hanging just outside of the port. Hatz and Red had pulled off to go be invisible somewhere (a hard thought to imagine), and Khun had told them all he had ‘business’ to do and disappeared to who-knows-where to probably do something sneaky (a very easy thought to imagine).

What that meant was that until Khun got back, they all had a little more time to, well, _think_. Wangnan wasn’t sure if he was doing a good job at that. He turned to Ehwa, who had been quiet for a minute or two, and wondered if she was doing any better. “So, thinking about whether you’re going to leave or not, or…something else?” he probed hesitantly.

Ehwa responded with a short snort of laughter, her tone bitter. “What else? It’s not like we had _time_ to think this through; we—wait, hold on, do you…want to be alone?” She turned suddenly hesitant. “I kind of just—”

“Oh no, stay, seriously,” Wangnan assured easily. As long as she didn’t mind the fact that his hair was plastered to his forehead and whatever smells might go with it…speaking of which, were they going to get a chance to like, shower anytime soon? That would be nice. That probably wasn’t going to happen. Point was, he really would rather have her here. “You can keep me from going crazy.” And…he said that out loud.

“Hmph, suit yourself.” Ehwa smiled a little, leaning back against the wall. “But right, what was I saying…? Yeah, I still don’t know. This whole situation is honestly ridiculous.”

“True, but, I don’t _want_ to leave them,” Wangnan confessed, clenching one hand with the other. Why did this have to be so hard? Back in the meeting earlier…for Endorsi and Hatz, the choice seemed so easy. And that Rak would want to stay was a no-brainer. But they were the ones who knew Bam, Anaak, and Khun first. No—no, that wasn’t the problem. The problem was that Wangnan knew he wasn’t as strong as they were. He wanted to get stronger, and he wanted to think that he had been in this long enough to be able to handle anything, but to call these past few days overwhelming was an understatement. They got Bam and Hatz back, but they hardly got the chance of a real reunion before the Sawfish attack happened, and then Jahad came for them after that. So—in what, three days?—they went from being completely chill to becoming enemies of the Empire on account of the lion, and according to Bam, probably enemies of FUG too. Maybe they always knew something like this could happen eventually, what with their habit of rule-breaking and all, but he didn’t expect it to go down so _fast_. It was dangerous, but that wasn’t even the whole problem. Wangnan wasn’t afraid of dying. At least, he didn’t think so. He _was_ afraid of someone else being killed because of him.

He wasn’t sure how to express that to Ehwa, though. Maybe just try to describe this unsettling feeling like they were all on thin ice and one wrong move by anybody could launch them all into painful fiery death? That he could walk out this door and not be surprised to find an entire fleet surrounding their one tiny ship with big scary guns? “I think…I’m just afraid of doing something wrong,” he admitted in words more simple than the long and colorful monologue building up in his head. “I _trust_ Khun, mostly, but it’s stressful not knowing what’s about to happen. I mean, steal a starship from his dad? In _Central_? That’s _asking_ for something to go wrong. Which, I mean, I think I trust them to be able to handle it, but…” _But can I?_

“Yeah, don’t get me _started_ on that plan.” Ehwa shook her head, visibly tense. She inhaled as if about to say something else, but paused for a moment, eyes far off. Then, she released. “To be honest, with me…I feel like I’d be breaking a promise to myself if I left them now.”

“Hmm?” Wangnan cocked his head, wondering what she meant.

She paused a second longer, eyes narrowed as if deciding whether to talk about it or not, but in the end, she did. “Remember the Scalion people? That whole thing?”

Wangnan nodded. “Yeah.” That happened soon after the two of them first joined, which was…seven years ago? Eight? “Right, wasn’t that the time you found out the thing and Khun tricked you?”

Ehwa sighed and rolled her eyes. “Of course that’s how you remember—yes Wangnan, _that_ time. And he didn’t _trick_ me, it was just a stupid test. It’s different.” She rubbed her temples, exhaling again. “The Scalions…they were a species that were natural quintessence wielders, harboring it in them like a battery. That’s why Jahad wanted them—to extract the quintessence from them, more specifically, but, I didn’t know that at the time. I thought we were fighting them because they were rebelling or something; I just assumed I didn’t need to know the reason. But our commander at the time—he was really hands-off with us, not joining personally on any of the missions. I guess that’s why Khun was able to get away with as much as he did. He seemed to be orchestrating this whole plan to let the Scalions escape their planet, which I found out about, so, of _course_ I thought he was committing treason. But I only had suspicions. That was when he set up this whole fake mission where I was supposed to assassinate a literal family of civilians…” She shook her head at the thought. “Apparently, Endorsi was watching me the whole time to make sure I wouldn’t actually do it. And, I didn’t. It was a reckless test for him to pull, but I get where they were going, I guess. You, on the other hand,” she gestured back to Wangnan, “You found that kid in the forest somewhere in the midst of this mess. They would’ve known you’d be on their side pretty easily after that.”

Wangnan quirked a smile at the memory. “Yeah, I remember you helped me help him.” He remembered running into her in a panic, this small child with a broken leg in tow, and having no better idea than to ask her for help. It was kind of funny, thinking back on it. The two of them had known each other before being assigned to the 134th, having been in the same training corps, but he didn’t exactly _know_ her well at all. Honestly, at the time he thought she was crazy, given all those people in training she accidentally burned (he didn’t know it was an accident at the time). He didn’t have much reason to trust her, but either by desperation or instinct, he did. “To be honest, it just didn’t cross my mind that I was supposed to kill that kid. Not until it came time to take him back to camp with me and I thought we were toast.”

“Well, lucky for us and them, it worked,” she continued with a slight smile. “We evacuated a whole tribe and made it look like they did it on their own. At some point, I found out that saving them had been all Bam’s idea, which…made sense. He was kind like that. Anyways, we got a chance to talk, and he talked about wanting to help people, in a way that it sounded like he didn’t care so much if it meant defying orders or not, and it was so crazy, but then, that’s when I thought, ‘I’m going to follow this guy.’ As silly as it sounds, I promised myself at that moment that if this was really his goal, I would follow him, no matter what. Maybe…I just liked the idea of having purpose, or something,” she spoke sincerely, then waved her hand as if dismissing the old thoughts. “And now here I am, having doubts. Same as you, I _want_ to stay with them, but at this point, it’s all so _final_. If we openly join the group of ‘traitors,’ we’re enemies of the Empire. We can’t go back from that. And then, the plan is to leave forever for the unknown somewhere else, and I don’t know if I’m ready for that.”

“Yeah, you have a point,” Wangnan acknowledged. Leaving the Empire forever…he almost forgot about that part. Did he care? It was ridiculous, but then, it wasn’t like he had family to go back to. All of the old friends he had were either dead or he hadn’t heard from them in years. “I guess, leaving your family for good would be tough, right?”

“Oh.” Ehwa paused for a second, shaking her head. “It’s…not that. I’m not exactly close to my family.” She drew her legs up, hugging her knees against her chest so she could rest her head on them. “I don’t know what it is. There’s no one else I want to go back to. The 134th, they…” she trailed off, as if unsure of the words.

“They _are_ our family?” Wangnan supplied, wondering if she was thinking the same thing he was.

Ehwa shrugged. “Sounds sappy, but sure. I mean…yes. Yes, that’s exactly it. They’re like…the siblings I never asked for, but I wanted. And I _know_ I don’t want them to die like this. I just don’t get how I’m supposed to see this through to the end like I thought I would. But Wangnan, you already decided you want to stay, right?”

“Umm…” Wangnan’s breath caught in his throat. Did he really sound that sure, because, he _wasn’t_. His fear just wasn’t the same as Ehwa’s. It wasn’t the unknown or the finality; it was messing up. Yeah, they felt like family to him. Yes, he was beyond happy that Bam was back, and he hated leaving again so soon. But did he deserve _any_ of this?

_“Bam would want you here.”_

_Khun didn’t look at him, but his voice sounded sincere. His lips were still drawn tight, his eyes narrowed at nothing like they had been since yesterday, like he was angry. Wangnan had been so sure it was him he was angry at. Maybe he still was. He didn’t know._

_Wangnan sat up in the med bay bed, feeling the tightness of the bandages wrapped around his chest. They said his right lung had deflated. And yet, he was sitting up. He survived a literal bullet wound to the chest in the matter of one day, and he hated it. He didn’t know why. He didn’t exactly know what species he even was, just that he was the type to have survived hits like this before. But whatever he was, Bam wasn’t. Bam was dead. He was in the ship that Wangnan was flying during that attack, and…they said he was shot out of it. If the shot didn’t kill him, the fall would have. If the fall didn’t kill him, the wild animals on the ground did. All they found were scattered remains. It made Wangnan sick to the stomach just thinking about it, but there was nothing he could do, because it was all his fault. If he had been a better pilot, he could have evaded FUG for longer. He could’ve not got shot, not blacked out when his team needed him. He knew he could’ve caused Khun to get killed too if Khun hadn’t pulled him out and taken over the controls._

_The only thing he knew was that he was worthless in that fight, and it wasn’t fair that he was the one who lived through it. He was here now with Khun, but he was reminded that Bam was Khun’s friend first. If Khun hated him now, he wouldn’t blame him._

_So what was Khun even talking about right now?_

_“I…I don’t get it.” Wangnan felt confused and out of place. “I was just saying I’m sorry—”_

_“He would want you to live,” Khun interrupted him with a sharp sigh of frustration, tense in both speech and stance with his arms crossed and hands attempting a clarifying gesture. “You…you don’t_ get _it.”_

_“Khun, you’re being confusing.”_

_“Argh, where’s that crocodile when you need him!?” Khun muttered loudly with a groan. “Look, just, let’s just say that Rak had a few words for me earlier today, so I’m passing it along. You keep apologizing. Stop it. Seriously. For one thing,_ I’m _the one who should have been protecting Bam. I failed to keep him from falling out of that cruiser, so that’s not your fault. But…it doesn’t matter anyways. What would Bam think if he saw us like this? He would hate it. Wangnan, I know you requested a form to transfer. So what I’m saying is…please don’t. If you really want to leave, I get it. But if you think you have to—don’t.”_

_Wangnan blinked for a second, unsure of how Khun knew about that but not surprised. “Khun, look…I know I’m a crap pilot.”_

_“You aren’t, and even if you were, I wouldn’t care.”_

_Okay, what happened to Khun? “Are you saying that because of Bam? Because I still don’t get it—”_

_“Yeah, forget that._ None _of us want you to leave, Wangnan.” Khun was up close and looking him in the eye now. “I can’t guarantee something like this won’t happen again, and I will assure you that I’m_ not _letting this go. I’ll get back at FUG someday, just not today. It’ll take time. But will you be there when that happens, or will you run?”_

 _Oh…Khun’s eyes have been murder eyes for FUG this whole time. That made more sense. “I…Khun, I_ want _to, but…”_

_“Then stay. Don’t make everyone here lose more people than they already have.”_

“Yeah…I do,” Wangnan spoke out loud before the rest of him even knew that for sure. But he couldn’t help but think of the last time he half thought of bowing out, and how much he really didn’t want to do it again. “Look, Ehwa, to be honest, I’m sure anymore if I’m cut out for this. This…umm…” he trailed off as the words flew off somewhere else.

“This what?” Ehwa probed, eyebrow raised.

“Being in the military?” he tried.

“Pfft, well you don’t have to worry about _that_ anymore.” Ehwa smirked bitterly.

“Yeah, I mean…!” Why was this so hard to get out? “Doing things! Anything! Ehwa, I only joined because I wanted to get stronger—I was so sick and tired of being powerless so I just needed to do _something_! But I’m not as strong as anyone else! I couldn’t help Bam; I couldn’t save Nia…!” He felt his hand tremble as he clenched it. “I hate it that Jahad had to get involved! I hate it that so many people died when the Sawfish got attacked, for a move that was nothing but a stupid _trap_! And yet, I don’t have the right to pretend I care about _anything_ , because for a long time, I _didn’t_ really care! People were always dying. People died in training. But none of that had anything to do with me, so I didn’t pay attention. I just—I…!” He felt himself choke on his last few words.

“Hey…hey, Wangnan!” Ehwa, looking suddenly worried, grabbed his knee and looked him in the eye. “Stop that! No one cares about people more than you do! I mean—look at me! My family has been abusing their power for years, and what have I done about it? I mean…” she stopped herself with a groan. “Okay, actually, never mind that. What I actually mean is I don’t care about the past.” Her grip tightened, her eyes turning fierce. “Because I’m doing something about it _now_. And…you can too. So yes, just stop that. I know you want to stay. So do it. Bam’s alive, remember? So you don’t have to feel guilty about that anymore.”

Wangnan wasn’t sure how to stop remembering, but, he smiled a little anyways. “Heh, so I’m guessing you want to stay, too?”

“Don’t put words in my mouth!” Ehwa reacted with immediate, albeit short-lived, offense. “But…yes. Yes, you might be right about that. These guys may be idiots, but I’m already attached, so…” She shrugged lightheartedly. “I think…there’s nothing else I’d rather do.”

“So, we stay a team? Go rogue? Become vigilantes for the win?” he jested.

“Heh, maybe nothing too extreme.”

“I’d hate it if we stopped, though,” Wangnan confessed, eyes narrowed in more serious tone. “I meant when I said I hate what happened to the Sawfish. What if that happens again? Or what if Jahad starts more wars, and people get enslaved, and…well…I guess what I mean is, if we run away forever, we won’t be able to do anything about it. And FUG’s a thing, too.”

“So…we stay?” Ehwa probed hesitantly. “Rebellions haven’t exactly gone too great in the past. Jahad sure has dealt with plenty. FUG is the only group that actually does anything, and we don’t want to be anything like _them_ , not that we could if we wanted to.”

“Ah,” Wangnan pointed out with the raise of a finger, “but we have Voltron.”

“We have one lion.”

“More than anyone else has.” Admit it, Ehwa, he has a point!

“Pfft, I guess,” Ehwa admitted, turning thoughtful. “I do wonder about that lion from Hockney’s painting, though…at least, I’m almost certain those were the same kind of eyes. You think we could find it somehow?”

Huh, Wangnan almost completely forgot about that. “That _would_ put us at a total of two.”

“That’s assuming someone can fly it.”

“Tsk tsk, so pessimistic.”

“Hmph.” Ehwa smiled, crossing her arms in mock offense. “Well.” She decisively made her move to stand back up, reaching a hand to Wangnan after she did so. “I think we’re done now, right?” She smiled with a fresh sense of certainty.

But were they done? Wangnan felt like he said a lot, but yet, at the same time, there was a lot he didn’t. His emotions had already gotten packed down and launched from a confetti cannon, and he had no hope of picking all that mess back up. Maybe he didn’t really need to try. He knew he didn’t want to give up—shouldn’t that be enough? What else did he need to figure out?

He grabbed the hand that Ehwa offered, and she pulled him up off the floor. “Yeah, I think I’m good,” he agreed. “I really want to talk to the others, though. I guess Khun might still be gone, but it might be nice to see what everyone thinks about…erm…vigilantism?”

“Ha, you know what, yes,” Ehwa agreed, more readily than he would have expected. “Vigilantism it is. I mean…like I said, I want to do something, about my family. So yeah. We’ll figure it out.”

“Heh, off we go, then!” With a flourish, he started walking out, and Ehwa followed beside him. Honestly, he felt better already, just knowing that she wanted to stay, too. Whatever things were like when this whole mess began, he knew that he could trust her, now, just like he could trust everyone else. He at least wasn’t about to argue with himself on that one.

“Oh, and by the way, Wangnan?”

“Hmm?”

“You really need a shower.”

Wangnan did nothing but laugh in response. Whelp, he wasn’t about to argue with her about that thing, either.

* * *

“Getting in touch with your inner cat?”

Boro found Sachi sitting perched with his feet about at level with Boro’s head, up on a ledge in the hallway created by a cavity with one of the wing assemblies on the other side. Getting just a slight bemused smile in response, Boro climbed up there with him, tuning in a little to the distant sounds of someone arguing about something, but otherwise, the hallway to the engine room was uncharacteristically quiet at the moment.

“Thinking?” Boro asked lightly. If Sachi didn’t want to talk about it, that was fine, but he figured at this point, he might as well throw it out there.

“Counting,” Sachi responded in kind with the very short version.

“Hmm?” Boro raised an eyebrow.

“Three hundred sixty-one,” Sachi started to explain, taking a deep, slow breath. “That’s how many years I’ve been in the Army. I had forgotten how long it’s been.”

“Ah.” Boro nodded, starting to see where he was going with this. He rubbed the back of his neck as he tried to remember likewise. “Shoot, I don’t think I remember what year it was for me. It’s probably been closer to three hundred? It’s been a hot minute. So what, are you thinking of changing up your career path?” He smirked lightheartedly. “Go to cooking class like Khun offered?”

“If only. No, that’s the problem.” Sachi sighed into the air, bringing one leg up on the ledge to rest his arm on. “I can’t imagine doing anything else. Before enlisting, I was a hunter. All these years, I’ve only focused on getting stronger. At this point, I don’t think I can do anything besides fight.”

Boro hummed and nodded. Yeah…he got that. “So that just leaves the options of staying with these guys or transferring again?” He had thought the same thing himself. But, even if they _wouldn’t_ be landing themselves in trouble regardless…

“I can’t see myself transferring, either.” Sachi, somehow, took the words right out of his head. “I don’t know why, exactly. I just can’t. At this point, finding another squadron feels almost unnatural, or maybe it just feels like repeating an old mistake. Maybe these kids can handle themselves; maybe we’ll all die regardless. I’m just not a fan of running away again, no matter what the reason.”

“Yeah…” Boro paused, looking down at the floor. The two of them hadn’t exactly talked much these past three years about what happened with the 44th, but he had a feeling Sachi probably thought about it at least sometimes, because Boro sure did. It kept coming like a cold stone in his heart always at the worst times: when he was tired after a long day and felt the familiar instinct to talk about it over a drink with a friend, when he laughed alongside his new teammates about nothing at all, when he forgot, for just a second, that anything bad had ever happened to them, or that anything would ever happen again.

He preferred to call himself an optimist. Then he remembered that, just a few days ago, when he heard the too-familiar brand of news, he had no belief that Hatz was ever coming back.

“Sachi, have I ever told you that before I enlisted, I was a treasure hunter?”

Sachi raised his eyebrows a little at the abrupt change of subject, but he went with it anyways. “You’ve mentioned it, I think.”

Boro nodded, leaning back to face the ceiling. “I did that for many years, and at some point, I got these two kids as apprentices: Felix and Hanool. They were both good kids, strong and eager to learn. We were together for a long time, but eventually, I was the one who decided to quit. The job just wasn’t worth it anymore. Wherever we went, it was Jahad Empire territory, regardless of if the planet was inhabited or not. The government got involved, took from the earnings of whatever we found. Sometimes they would invent some reason to take artifacts entirely, 100% ownership, because it was a ‘cultural relic’ that belonged to them or something like that. But,” he sighed and waved his hand dismissively, “that’s beside the point. We split up, and I decided to join the army, because I figured I’d be good at it and it’d just be easier being on Jahad’s side than fighting against it. Then, Felix died ten years later.” Boro paused a second, feeling Sachi’s slightly raised eyebrows in his gaze towards him. He was sure he never talked about this before. “Completely unrelated to me, but there was this train robbery, and, well, she became collateral. I don’t know a thing about how it went down, besides her getting shot but…it was difficult news to hear. This might sound ridiculous, but I feel like I should have been there. On that train, I mean. I should have helped, or maybe I could have taught her for longer. She had a lot of potential. Not that it’s even a great idea for anyone to fight as a bystander, but that wouldn’t stop me from thinking it. It’s different, but Hanool’s dead now, too. He got sick some forty years after that, but I didn’t even know it had happened for another five.”

There was a short pause before Sachi filled the silence. “And you feel responsible for not knowing.”

“Yeah,” Boro agreed, although he tried to shrug it off. “I get it, though—it’s not my responsibility.” He echoed the opinions of certain other people from many years past when he dared to express how distraught he was about Felix. “We split ways, and they’re adults, so that’s that.”

“No,” Sachi responded surprisingly quickly and fiercely, though maybe not so surprising, knowing him. “It’s good to not forget. I’m not saying you can protect everybody, but it’s inexcusable to forget they exist. You have to stay angry if you have hope of doing something about it.” He paused for a second, making Boro just a tiny bit nervous by the sharp tenseness behind the red-haired soldier’s eyes, but then, he exhaled. “I’m sorry,” he said out of the blue, confusing Boro further. “For a while, I thought…I thought you forgot.”

“I never forgot Roen,” Boro responded sincerely, taking a probably accurate guess as to what his friend was thinking. He then broke from the softer, more serious tone with a short, bitter laugh. “I guess my story was just a roundabout way of saying this isn’t my first time around the block. I’ve failed other people, too. Not just the 44th,” he jested lightly, although the subject matter was anything but.

Silence fell between the two of them for a few long moments. Boro didn’t have to talk about what happened in the 44th again, because they both already know. They were both there. And they both failed.

In short, their regiment was infiltrated. This man came who was far more skilled in fighting than anyone else, whose personality was simultaneously jerkish and charismatic. The swordsman went by the name of “White,” although it easily might not have been his real one. He came as a much-needed transfer in the midst of wartime, a border conflict they had to deal with concerning the Craadians, which while wholly insignificant to the Empire, was a big deal for their regiment. So he won their battles, and he got their trust. And, steadily, he stole information. This they didn’t know about until much later. They started losing battles. But before anyone could suspect him, he deftly shifted the blame onto someone else. Roen was accused of killing a comrade. When it came out that there was a security breach, and that FUG might be on the other end, they blamed her for that too. Everything after that happened so fast, Boro could be fooled into believed it was all a dream—the kind of a nightmare where you couldn’t move, couldn’t talk, couldn’t think, couldn’t run. He watched as Roen was court-marshaled. Suspected murder turned into certain treason, turned into execution by firing squad in front of everybody. Daniel was really the only one who tried to stop it. Boro knew something was wrong. He knew this wasn’t like her to do this. He knew that, even if she did really kill that guy, there would be a reason. But he was too terrified to say anything. She died innocent.

In Boro’s memory, that was where the story ended, although several more hazy weeks followed in which the rest of the pieces steadily fell apart. The first thing that happened was that White disappeared, and they found out for certain he was the reason for the security breach, the actual member of FUG. But there were no repercussions. No apologies. It wasn’t long after that when Daniel deserted. Then, Aka made the decision to retire. Sachi and Boro applied for a transfer. It was partially to avoid the incessant questions about Daniel’s whereabouts, given the common knowledge that they all used to be friends, and partially, if Boro was being honest, to run. He couldn’t stay in that squadron anymore. Starting over just seemed like the best thing. The fact that it was Khun who picked them up was frankly lucky on their part. It was definitely a first, getting not simply told where to go, but being personally met by this kid intent on supplementing their transfer with an interview/interrogation…but now, Boro understood why. And no, he really didn’t mind.

Thinking back on it, Boro couldn’t deny that this crew felt like family now, despite it being merely three years that they’ve been here. But the 44th was like family too. At least, it was like that with Sachi, Aka, Daniel, and Roen: the people he’d find himself spending time with outside work the most, and trusting the most during it. Yet, it ended in disaster. He failed them. There was nothing he could do now to fix it, because no matter what he did, Roen would still be dead.

“It’s felt like a weird dream being with the 134th, to be honest,” Boro broke the silence after however long it had been, his tone light again, since this time, the dream he thought about was of the good kind. “I think I might be looking back fifty years from now and think, ‘were those people even real’? I don’t think I’ll ever meet anyone again who managed to be a functioning military unit and rebel against the Empire at the same time. It’s ridiculous. But then, that’s me talking as if I’m not going to stay.” He shrugged again, his next words easy and yet almost terrifying at the same time. “I don’t think I’m going to leave them, though. I don’t know if anything we did had any real meaning, or if anything we’re going to do will, but the more I think about it, the more I realize that doesn’t matter. I just don’t want to find out these kids died years down the road and know I wasn’t there to do something about it. It’s as simple as that.”

Sachi didn’t answer right away, although by his expression, it was evident he wasn’t too surprised. “I’ve been thinking about leaving to go after FUG,” he admitted finally.

Now that, on the other hand, _did_ surprise Boro a little. That one line single-handedly slapped all the newfound calm out of him, because since when was Sachi trying to play hero? “Whoa man, what the heck!? ‘Go after _FUG_ ’? That’s not a one-man job!”

“To find White, specifically.”

“…oh.” Yeah, that made a little more sense. “I guess, but…are you sure about that?”

“I haven’t forgotten.” Sachi’s tone was dead serious. “And I can’t forgive myself for letting Roen die. White made fools out of all of us, so I’ve thought, ever since then, that when the time is right, I’ll find him and fight him. Kill him, if I can. I think, that’s the only thing holding me back from staying with the 134th. Khun’s plan is focused on survival. But what I want isn’t conducive to staying hidden. That’s the only problem I have.”

Boro couldn’t help but laugh a little at that. “Wow, so you’re set on going rogue regardless, huh?”

Sachi shrugged. “It’s not like I’ll live forever.”

“Mm,” Boro hummed noncommittedly, eyes drifting across the dull-colored metal wall in front of him. Sachi leaving to hunt down White…he hoped he wasn’t serious about that. From what he remembered, no one in the 44th was as skilled in hand-to-hand combat as that man was, not even Sachi. Yet, Boro knew he couldn’t judge. He knew he was the lazy one in this situation. He wasn’t the one training into the night as Sachi would, or contemplating how to make justice happen—he was just upset the right thing didn’t happen in the first place. Truth was, right now, he didn’t want to have to choose. He didn’t want anything to change. But now, he was stuck deciding on what to do with his life again.

_“What are you doing?”_

_Boro responded to the sudden voice by very gracefully getting startled and hitting his head against the top of the cellar doorframe. Rubbing his now throbbing head, he turned around to see Roen’s slightly disapproving shake of the head. “Boro, isn’t that your third bottle? You’re going to get yourself drunk!”_

_“Okay, first of all,” Boro, still on the floor, held up one finger, “One of those was for cooking. Secondly, I’m stressed and I deserve it.”_

_Roen, hands on her hips, responded with an exasperated sigh._

_“He has a point, for once,” Daniel sounded with a groan from his position sprawled across the couch on the other side of the room._

_“Oh come on, it’s our day off! Or tomorrow is, anyways!” Roen protested. “Now’s not the time to be stressed! We’ll have plenty of that_ on _the field!”_

_“Exactly, which is why my plan for today is to be a vegetable.” Boro pulled himself back up off the floor and set the bottle decisively on the counter._

_“Or!” Roen motioned to Boro with more vigor than he could dream of having right now. “We could not. Why don’t we spend some time together while we have the chance? How about some cards?”_

_Boro shrugged. That didn’t exactly sound like a bad idea. “Well, I guess a round or two. I think Sachi and Aka are coming over later tonight; they might be interested too if you’re thinking full-on poker or something.”_

_“Yeah, you guys go ahead. Maybe later,” Daniel dismissed without leaving his position._

_“Oh come on, Daniel, are you sure?” Roen prodded. “You can’t just—oh.” She stopped, as if wanting to take back what she said. “I’m sorry—I forgot. Are…you still upset? About Yorin?”_

_For a second, Boro almost forgot who Yorin was, until Daniel said something. Even then, he hadn’t exactly ever met the guy. “…yeah,” Daniel conceded after a pause, as if knowing full well that he couldn’t hide it from Roen. “Maybe. It’s not a big deal. It’s just my fault for getting attached to a stupid rookie. It’s not like most of them make it past their first year anyways.”_

_“True, but I know you were training him for weeks.” Roen sounded sympathetic. “It’s always going to be hard.”_

_“We lost a lot more than him,” Daniel added defeatedly, his fists turning clenched. “It was a pointless mission, too. The Craadians had us for lunch. Why do they always have us making such big territory grabs with no planning!? Like they expect us to throw guys at the situation until something happens!?”_

_Roen sighed in mute agreement. “Yeah, I know. But we’ll handle it.”_

_“Sure. But face it, it’s only a matter of time until we all kick the can. If this war ends, there’ll be another one right after it. Not that we can back out of this now.”_

_“Well, don’t say_ that _!” Roen countered, getting suddenly a lot fiercer. “Maybe it will end badly for us; I don’t know, but don’t say we’ve lost when it hasn’t happened yet!”_

_“Yeah, but, even if we do win the war, it’s all kind of pointless.”_

_“Mm, no.” Roen crossed her arms and shook her head, as Daniel finally made the motion to sit himself upright. “Look, I know how you feel, and I’m not saying that the war isn’t really pointless—to be honest, I don’t really care about all that as much as I maybe should. But that doesn’t mean life is pointless, too. It’s your life, so that’s the part you get to choose for yourself. You’re still living, aren’t you? Then you can still decide!”_

_Daniel appeared a little thoughtful at that, but he didn’t say anything, so Boro opted to fill the space. “Heh, count on Roen to bring philosophy up this late at night.” He quirked a smile. “So…what is it, then? What have_ you _decided?”_

_Roen smiled in turn. “Guess I’m still figuring that part out.”_

“Hey Boro! Sachi!”

“Huh?” Boro was very suddenly startled at seeing two new visitors appear in the hallway below them. How long have they been there? “Wangnan? Ehwa?” he greeted awkwardly. “Whoa, Wangnan, what—have you been jogging or something?” He couldn’t help but notice that the blond boy, between the hair plastered to his skin with sweat and his clothes made limp also due to sweat, looked like a used dishrag, whereas Ehwa looked completely normal.

Wangnan laughed nervously in response. “Uhh, no!”

“What are you two doing up _there_?” Ehwa asked.

“What were you doing in the engine room?” Sachi countered dryly. Boro glanced down the hall. So that’s where they ran here from?

“Good point!” Wangnan agreed.

“Anyways!” Ehwa shook her head with one hand on her hip, getting quickly back on track as she looked up at the two of them perched on the ledge. “We’re going to talk to the others about this raid thing and what we’re doing next. Do you two want to come with us?” She motioned in the general direction of the bridge.

Boro raised his eyebrows at their quickness. “Wait, so does that mean…?”

“We’re both going to stay,” Wangnan replied with surety and a grin. Boro blinked and noticed now the renewed gleam in his eyes, and the fierce conviction in Ehwa’s, both of which weren’t there during the meeting last night. He smiled. Yeah, he could’ve guessed they would choose that. “But…we don’t _really_ want to run…we’ll talk about that more later. Point is, we’re Team Voltron now! And that means we’re together on this!”

“We’re…what?” Okay, Boro wasn’t thinking of that one.

Wangnan smirked teasingly with a glance back at Ehwa as if it were an inside joke. “We have more Lions than any other team in the universe, as far as we know, so, that makes us the new Team Voltron!”

“Because one is greater than zero, got it.” Boro couldn’t argue with that one. He exhaled and looked for a second at the two of them there. Wangnan seemed kind of excited about this now, and although he knew full well just how badly this could end, he couldn’t help but feel happy that the kid’s hope hadn’t completely died in him yet. It was the kind that even in pain or maybe, as a mask for it, wouldn’t ever quite leave entirely. Just like another someone he knew.

Boro smiled and leapt back down off the ledge with a glance back at Sachi, who nodded, the depths of his thoughts forever unreadable but at least seeming more relaxed than before with the slightest hint of a smile to match. Boro, satisfied as he could be for now, turned to the other two. “Alright, we’re listening.”

* * *

“The Kyeodyck region is where you’re from, isn’t it?”

Goseng nodded in response, her mind far off as her eyes studied the thrumming crowd of people by default. Whether it was natural or the product of paranoia, she wasn’t quite sure. The Fergium port wasn’t as busy as some, but still, it was significant enough to be busier than most. As she stood in the midst of the station, holding the now-wrinkled paper schedule of all the passenger ships’ comings and goings, she couldn’t help but wonder how long it would take for the Army to track them down, how long until they inevitably got caught. It was the main reason why she asked Prince and Miseng to stay behind on the ship, although Prince in particular was already getting antsy in the cramped space and wanting to go outside. Instead, she asked Arkraptor to come with her, as he had largely recovered from his atmospheric poisoning-induced sickness of the past several days, for the simple reason that it was safer to be in pairs, as a general rule. He might be interested in the schedule, too. When she tried to ask him his thoughts, Arkraptor sounded unsure as to what he would choose to do, but Goseng knew that if they were going to leave this place, it would be best to do it quickly. Even so, the listed departure to Kyeodyck at 13:45, four hours from now, felt like it would come far too soon.

“It might be a good idea to go to Kyeodyck,” she stated, musing over the matter out loud. “I know people there, and Miseng would be familiar with the place. But,” she spoke with a pause, unsure, “it’s not a peaceful region, either. There’s higher military presence there because of the rebellion, or so it was before I left. It might not be the best idea to go back there. I think…I might want to choose a quieter place. Somewhere less populous.”

Goseng spoke as she walked, moving away from the heart of the station to the less dense areas outside, watching the space around her as she went, not that she had high confidence in her ability to know if she was being watched.

“I saw a flight to Grefnitia,” Arkraptor offered as a suggestion. “I don’t think a lot of people live there. I heard the fauna was dangerous, though.”

“Mm,” Goseng hummed in acknowledgment, still thinking. “But that flight isn’t until tomorrow. We might not have that much time. But, I could always transfer elsewhere.” She wasn’t sure if she would want that or not. She didn’t know what she was looking for. Wherever she went, she still needed to be in a place where she could work. As a medic, she had more options than most. She could go wherever she wanted to. But still, people from the government could find her, ask her questions. Truth was, Goseng knew she wasn’t nearly as brave as people thought she was, and with her maternal instincts activating over the two young teens she was determined to take on into her care…it was even worse.

Goseng still remembers the day Khun showed up on her doorstep. It was the same day she initially determined was the perfect time to leave through the back door and set fire to her home/practice on the way out. He wasn’t wearing his military uniform at the time, but Goseng was well-acquainted with the defining features of the Ten Great Families, and the Khuns especially were incredibly easy to pick out in a crowd. And being a member of one of the Families, regardless of career path, meant being in a position of power, and of being close to the government. Or, so that’s what she thought.

Goseng’s home, at most times, doubled as her practice, as she took care of patients in the local community. But for nearly eight months, ending about two months prior to Khun’s visit, that hadn’t been the case. Instead, she worked out of a then-out-of-use high school, with a few other assistants who came and went to lighten the load, and with a young but tireless Miseng who helped in every way she could. In those days, the cafeteria tables were replaced with rows of cots, occupied by a hoard of the dead and dying. Goseng still shuddered at the memory of that image alone: the overwhelming stress, the smell of death, the lingering guilt of knowing what she brought Miseng into, whether it was her fault or not. Goseng wasn’t one of the rebels. She just happened to live there. She took care of wounded rebel fighters and civilians alike, some of whom had been hurt by the rebels themselves in the crossfire. Why she ever chose to do any of that…she couldn’t quite remember. Everything just happened. It always felt like everything just happened.

The history books, if they remembered the Kyeodyck rebellion at all, would remember that it was dealt with quickly and easily. Or, as the residents would describe it, mercilessly. It ended with the cities shelled, the people dead, the leaders arrested. All of that only mattered to Goseng because those were people that she knew, and this was the city where she thought she would keep Miseng safe, and not put her close to losing her family a second time.

Before the day Khun came, authorities had already been questioning Goseng about her involvement. She deflected successfully at first, but she knew that for her actions, she was already guilty, no matter what the reasons. She knew it was only a matter of time before word got out of the role she had, so it wasn’t surprising that Khun would know. She just never expected to get recruited because of it.

“Miseng was on board before I was,” Goseng spoke after a period of silence, knowing she was coming out of the blue but feeling it was relevant enough. Arkraptor had been patient; it would be good to let him know what she was thinking. They were vaguely similar to each other, in that they joined the 134th at about the same time, soon after Khun had taken charge of it. They were the newest of the crew next to Boro and Sachi. They were new enough to have never met Bam before three days ago. She wondered if he felt as distant to the situation as she did, happy for the others’ sakes to have their friend back, but not knowing enough to know what to think about it. Maybe the knowledge that Bam was fighting for FUG bothered her a little—scared her, even. But if that didn’t do anything to reduce the trust they obviously had in him, then she supposed that would be good enough for her, too. She just had to figure out how to deal with yet another patient who insisted on joining battles with a literal bullet wound in his chest. It was no wonder he and Khun were such close friends.

“It didn’t take long,” she continued, looking up at the pale sky. “Well, not that she trusted Khun at first, either. She wouldn’t trust strangers back then no matter who they were—that part might’ve been my fault. I always told her to be cautious. But then, with her losing her family like she did, it wouldn’t have been a hard lesson to learn.” She exhaled a heavy sigh for pause, adjusting her glasses as she did so. “But Khun was persistent. I guess he would’ve been desperate for a medic, and he was set on getting one in the most unconventional way. And somehow, he got Miseng’s interest. Because, it had to be her choice, too, since she would be coming with me wherever I went. So, we talked about it together for a while, but I just remember her saying to me, simple and sure, that she would like to be part of a team.”

Goseng paused for a moment, knowing Arkraptor already knew most of everything that had happened. Right now, she just needed to process it through herself. “It wasn’t long after we came when the thing with Prince happened—you were there at that time, too. It wasn’t good what happened with his family, but I’m glad that he came to live on the base, too, since he and Miseng became good friends.” And thus, she became the mother of two. “I know I don’t have any right to make decisions for them. It’s not a job anyone gave me. But, I just want them to be safe.”

Arkraptor paused for a moment before releasing a slow, steady exhale. “Someone has to,” he replied simply, although his tone implied that he wasn’t sure what the answers were, either. “Take care of them, that is. If you want to take them somewhere they’ll be safe, I think that’s a good thing. I definitely won’t be stopping you.”

“Hmm, _they_ might, though.”

“Heh, is Prince planning insurrection already?” Arkraptor jested with a single-note laugh.

“I don’t think he likes being told to run and hide,” Goseng answered truthfully. “Miseng doesn’t either, maybe more-so. I noticed she’s been training herself for a couple of years now—she, especially, wants to learn to fight. I haven’t tried to stop her, although to be honest, I don’t like it. She still feels too young to me, and even if she wasn’t, I wouldn’t like it.” Goseng felt her lip twist with the thought. She’s been thinking about it, for a long time, but she hasn’t said anything. She supposed she should be silent when watching her little cousin, now like a sister to her, go down a path that led to nothing but death. “To be honest, I was going to run away four years ago,” she confessed, her eyes downcast. “I thought it was a mistake to associate myself with the rebels. I didn’t think there was a point anymore. I couldn’t stop hundreds of people from dying, and I didn’t think I would win at avoiding the government. I was going to leave that town, and Miseng and I were going to run away somewhere else.”

A silence reigned for a few more long seconds, both comfortable and uncomfortably heavy. Arkraptor sighed as if the words had left him, too, and this was the best thing he got left. “I understand wanting to protect them. I feel the same way. I don’t want them to have to fight. But, I’ve noticed they have grown a lot, these past few years.”

Goseng nodded but didn’t say anything for a moment. “Arkraptor?” she asked with the tone of a subject-changing question.

“Yes?”

“Have you decided if you’re going to leave or stay? You didn’t answer me directly before.”

“Well,” Arkraptor exhaled, “I don’t mind being an enemy of Jahad. To be honest, that part doesn’t bother me at all. Joining the army…it wasn’t ever my first choice. Just a means to an end, really. I never wanted to stay here. If there’s a way for me to stay on a team with the others, whatever side we fall on, I’ll take it. But, saying that, I don’t think I’ll stay forever.” He paused, looking at something on the ground as they continued their aimless walking. “There’s a good chance, I just can’t leave Jahad’s territory for good. I don’t know if they’re here or somewhere else, but I can’t disappear forever. But, that’s a journey I might have to take alone.”

Knowing him, it wasn’t hard to guess what Arkraptor was talking about. “To find your wife and daughter?”

“Yes.” Arkraptor nodded, looking back up at the sky. “I haven’t stopped trying, although, to be honest, I don’t know if I’ll ever succeed. My wife’s family isn’t going to let her go. I have more hope in finding my daughter, but I don’t know where she went. She wouldn’t be looking for me. Honestly, I have nothing to give her, not when she has one of the Ten Great Families behind her, but, I still want to find her. I want to know that she’s okay, and to see how she’s grown. I don’t think I can give up on that now.”

“Hmm, but do you have to do that alone?” Goseng prodded. “I think the others would still be willing to help you, if they can.”

“Yes, but the plan is to leave the Empire for some other place. I can’t tell them to come back.”

“Hmm, that is true, I guess. But Khun did help you before, didn’t he?”

Arkraptor smiled a little bit at that. “Yes,” he agreed. “He’s the reason I know that my daughter ran away for somewhere else. It’s how we met—I definitely wasn’t expecting a military commander to part-time as an information broker, but knowing him now, I’m not at all surprised.”

Goseng smiled. Yes, neither was she. It was…different, getting involved with these people, but truth be told, she still didn’t entirely mind. At least, if it was only herself she was considering, she didn’t think she would mind so much as she thought she should. She hoped, at least, that the others would live through this, that they would find a better life somewhere else. Or, if they chose to fight back—which in knowing the likes of Khun, Hatz, Shibisu, Endorsi, Anaak, and Rak, she was sure they would be very likely to do—she hoped they would find a way to win.

“He’s been playing a dangerous game for a long time, I think,” Goseng mused solemnly. “But, at least he knows what he’s doing. I know they’re capable. Bam definitely seems to be so, as well. Although, I _do_ hope that Khun told at least someone where he was going off to this morning; he hasn’t come back yet, which is worrying.”

“He does seem to make a habit of that.”

Goseng froze in her tracks. She realized, a second afterwards, that she shouldn’t have stopped like that, but by now, it was too late. It wasn’t Arkraptor who answered her. It was someone else, someone standing behind her, a woman’s voice that she certainly did not recognize. She couldn’t decide whether to turn around or run, especially since she didn’t know which one Arkraptor would choose, either. So, she chose the former. Her gaze steadily drifted backwards, to find a woman simply standing on the street, unarmed and entirely unfazed. Other passer-by ambled along in the distance without the slightest clue.

Goseng breathed to still her pounding heart. She glanced at Arkraptor, and the two of them, seeing that she wasn’t attacking them, turned fully to face their visitor, who patiently waited for them to make the first move. Goseng was sure she didn’t recognize her. The woman wore a cloak, but otherwise, she made no effort to hide her face, framed by long, bright red hair, and featuring a black patch over her right eye. She regarded them coolly, with a slight smile.

“What do you want?” Arkraptor, his tone tense, finally got to the point. Goseng wondered if the two of them were overreacting, but there was such a dangerous air to the surety of the woman’s presence.

“I would like to talk to Khun, once he returns.” She remained smiling, speaking as if to make a business transaction. “To answer your question, he will be returning to this station in fifteen minutes. And tell him I wish to see Viole, as well.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dang, that was long! This chapter kind of turned into 11700 words of people having emotions...so...yep. Sorry if it was too long-winded! I knew that I really wanted to take this time to get into everyone's thoughts on the situation—as said before, the OG crew was a given on staying together, but I imagined that these guys might have to think about it a little first. So yeah, it made for a good chance to give attention to side characters who haven't had as much screen time yet and squeeze in their backstories. Granted, this was one of those chapters where I went in full tilt excited-like and then immediately went 'how do I character?', but hopefully it came through! Many thanks to my sister Pencil for beta-reading. Also, many thanks to the blessed people who put the ToG wiki together—I stared at the list of quotes each character had so much. Seriously, every fandom should have a section like that; it's wonderful for getting in character. And also, re-reading ToG itself. There was much of that. I almost forgot Arkraptor once called Khun a jerk to his face...fun times.
> 
> Still though, I think the scene with Aguero and Ran was my favorite to write. Shout-out to SadUwus and resident_ordinary_person for guessing Aguero's chosen accomplice correctly! Woot woot! I mean, certainly, there would be other possibilities as well, like Hachuling, but part of it was this idea of Aguero having blackmail material on his dear brother, so yep. I just thought it would be fun :)
> 
> Also, about all the place and people names in this chapter are entirely made up. Some earlier locations in this story I pulled from canon, but I seriously just put syllables together this time. There were way too many!
> 
> Next chapter: Khun raids his dad's treasure house...but with friends!
> 
> //But also! One tiny little thing, I've seen other authors post song lists for their works, and I don't know if this in particular is a thing, but...  
> https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7DPCn1e63LtQ4ctEIGRx5q?si=Wq6Hh6WeSuao0E1lXBWxAQ
> 
> I made a playlist for Land Among the Stars. A while ago, actually! I like making playlists for my stories, written or unwritten, just for fun, in a 'goes in thematic order of the story' kind of way. So, like for this one, it starts before the events of chapter one, with a prelude and then with Bam being kidnapped by FUG, and so on. So yeah, if you happen to be into rock and anime music, which is mostly what this one is, maybe you'll like it! I promise I'm not doing this just to canvas for followers, I just like making music mixes like this, so I thought I might as well share. I might end up doing the same for my other stories, too. So yeah!
> 
> //Also, one last thing before I go, I just want to give a shout-out to SIU for creating such an incredible story. I sincerely hope he gets during this hiatus the rest he deserves!


	7. Stealing Dad's Things is Good Therapy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's heist time

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My free time has been wholly consumed by Genshin Impact. My late update has no other excuse :)

Aguero was going to find whoever created this security system, and he was going to murder them.

However, he kept his groaning to himself as he hunched over the control panel, straining his eyes in the darkness as he worked to make each painstaking wall fall. Ran’s passcode worked, along with his biometrics which opened the first gate. But, it was also imperative that they didn’t know Ran—or anyone else, for that matter—was ever here. He needed to erase that entry from the log—a doable process, but also an incredibly long one. A long one that required time they did not have. Still, as annoying as his smart-mouthed half-brother was, Aguero wasn’t about to throw him under the bus. His father would know, after the deed was done, that it was Aguero who robbed him, but that was all he was going to know. Aguero’s only regret would be that he would never get a chance to see the shocked look on Eduan’s face when he found out his black sheep son bested him. If only. Admittedly, all of that was assuming this operation goes half as well as he hoped it would.

_“If you want to know, come talk to me when you see me.”_

Aguero frowned as he stood up and backed quietly away from the control panel, eyeing the walls where he knew the cameras were as if he could ensure from his position that they were, in fact, currently dead. Ran’s team was in charge of that part—they should be in the security control room right now watching the computers and the unconscious guards. Because as easy and as much up Ran’s speed it would be to simply off the pesky security personnel, Aguero wasn’t about to put even _more_ deaths on Bam’s conscious than there had to be—or on anyone else’s. Still, that wasn’t Aguero’s greatest concern. Having all the many forces backing the Khun Family Mansion after them would be a considerable problem, but not an unsolvable one. Aguero, in every way, still had a home field advantage. He knew how the security worked. He knew how his siblings fought, if one of them should go after them. He hardly expected his dad to bother getting involved, which would be an incredibly bad thing, but even if he did, Aguero knew what to expect.

He didn’t, however, have nearly enough clues to know what to expect from FUG.

_“Wait, so you’re saying that FUG won’t attack Central if I’m not involved?” Bam sounded simultaneously very hopeful and very confused. “I don’t get why—”_

_“It was your test,” Hwaryun explained without really explaining anything at all. “There is less of a reason without you. However, it remains that the Council is divided on what to do about you. Most want you back. Or, more specifically, they want your thorn.”_

Hwaryun never specified exactly _what_ they would do about Bam, which was frustrating as well as intensely worrying, but it was evident that she likely really didn’t know. Still, what was even more frustrating was wondering why she came to them in the first place. It was obvious that Bam trusted her. Aguero did not. However, Aguero trusted Bam, so therein lay the predicament. All he knew was that Hwaryun approached Arkraptor and Goseng while they were walking around in Fergium—which honestly irked Aguero to no end knowing that they didn’t know they were being followed and were _talking_ about things when she found them, but then he had to remind himself that not everybody was raised believing that two seconds of not paying enough attention was a surefire ticket to getting yourself stabbed. Point is, she asked for an audience with Aguero and Bam, and she got it. And then, she used that audience to say that FUG was after Bam, and also, by the way, the attack on Central wasn’t going to happen because Bam wasn’t involved and he was important, somehow—unless, that is, Bam went to Central. Have a nice day. So was that all supposed to be a warning, or a threat? Bam clearly thought of it as a warning. Aguero wondered why exactly Hwaryun suggested that they might be in Central. There was no way she would know their plans of going there to raid the Khuns, unless Ark and Goseng were _really_ idiotic in what they let the FUG agent overhear. Did she know of Aguero’s departure to meet Ran? That, admittedly, was the most likely cause. Fake name for the ticket or no, she could have been watching. And that just made Aguero trust her all the less.

Maybe, the real question was whether Hwaryun’s warning was her only purpose, or if that meeting was simply a setup to another meeting? When Aguero tried to confront her alone as she left, she told him to come talk to her again when he saw her. But when would _that_ be? And what did she have to say?

Aguero walked down the dark southern hallway, listening for any sounds of life, although the camera feed before being shut off confirmed that there was none. That is, in the hangar building there wasn’t. There were assuredly plenty present tonight in the mansion at the estate’s center, Eduan probably included, although their sleeping selves could very well be avoidable. The main concern was the connection strip between the mansion and the hangar, where Endorsi and Anaak were currently positioned, making them both the first line of defense and the alarm, although Aguero made extra sure to let them know which individuals they were supposed to not engage under any circumstance whatsoever. But gratefully, those people were also the ones he wouldn’t expect to bother getting involved at all. Meanwhile, Boro and Sachi were lying in wait just outside, watching the hangar—Sachi’s ability would be their best bet for immobilizing a ship in take-off should anyone immediately decide to pursue them. That left Bam, Wangnan, and Ehwa as the ones currently on the move, taking a roundabout path from the north entrance to get to the staging area near where the target starship was. Khun’s plan was to meet up with them right now.

Then there was Shibisu and Hatz. They were the farthest away from the scene, and they better stay that way, because the Red Lion stuck out like a sore thumb and they were in _Central_. Or, just outside of it, in their case. They would need to be vigilant to watch out for Jahad’s troops, but their main goal, still, was to watch out for FUG. If any ship that was not Jahad’s warped in on a path to Central, or just appeared out of nowhere, Aguero wanted to know. He hadn’t forgotten what Hwaryun said. Honestly, the very reminder of FUG’s existence almost spooked him enough to abandon the mission altogether for the time being, or at least to try to convince Bam to not be involved in it. But they talked about this. He understood that waiting wasn’t going to help them. The Lion aside, their one fumbling navigation-less battleship wouldn’t do a damn thing in the case of a FUG attack if they were serious and having too many people onboard made it especially dangerous. So, while Aguero would have loved to have many months to plan and fully analyze the situation, they needed to move fast or otherwise change their approach altogether. If they wanted to be able to protect Bam, they _had_ to be stronger, or else go the route of disappearing into the shadows. And yet, this very operation could be the thing putting Bam in danger. Aguero couldn’t leave him with the rest of the remaining crew in their ship, either, because like it or not, he was a target for attack, and they wouldn’t be able to fend those attackers off as they were.

The rest of the crew—still all present, surprisingly enough—would wait in the ship, under orders to leave at once if anything went wrong. Whether or not they did that was another story. Rak especially was quite vocally opposed to the notion of being left behind, but Aguero somehow got through it the crocodile’s thick skull that he and anything ‘stealth’ did not correlate in the slightest.

Aguero looked down at his communicator and cursed his self-inflicted radio silence. He just needed to go join up with Bam’s group and stay quiet in the meantime, although this hallway did force him to be in the open. If anyone did find him walking here, he could probably talk his way out of it, depending on who that ‘anyone’ was. It was one reason he chose this route to be the one he himself would take.

However, talking was something he would have really preferred to have avoided, especially right now.

He heard the voices long before he saw them, leading Aguero to immediately make himself inconspicuous behind some crates, a curse under his breath. At least they weren’t trying to walk through the smooth marbled halls of the actual mansion. The hangar was much more utilitarian, and a little more cluttered. But it also had one too many entrances to keep a proper watch.

“Ugh…are you _sure_ this way is faster?”

“Oh, trust me! It’s a shortcut. What, are you saying you can’t walk anymore?”

Aguero saw two kids, obviously Khuns, come into view, and he relaxed a little to see that he didn’t know them. If he kept his scarf over his face in a way that looked natural, he should be able to slip by them just fine without a question. It would be better than hiding and risking being noticed.

There was a young boy walking with a stagger like he could pass out any moment, a large white bandage wet with a dark red stain wrapped around his head. A slightly older and less banged up girl walked alongside him.

The two of them turned their attention to Aguero as he walked past and seemed curious but didn’t say a word, probably choosing to not risk accidentally angering their elder with a question.

“Do we have to go again tomorrow?” The boy asked in a lower voice as Aguero walked around the bend, sadly probably not realizing that he could still be heard from that distance.

“Of course! We only have three months,” she admonished while trying to sound chipper. “But don’t worry! I made it through the fight just fine. You’ll be fine too. We can rest once it’s over…”

Aguero could no longer hear their voices as he hurried his step towards his destination. The training hall—that’s where they came from. They must have entered through the north entrance where Bam, Wangnan, and Ehwa came through. He didn’t consider the possibility of traffic from that area at this time of night, but maybe, he should ask Boro to split off from Sachi and watch that entrance, to keep their bases covered. He was loathe to leave any one person alone for long, but at this stage, it could be necessary. He made the call the moment he was confident he was alone again.

Aguero finally released a breath when he got to the staging area, a row of bays and the quietly resting spacecraft inside of them in his immediate sight. Bam, Wangnan and Ehwa were already there waiting for him.

“Khun!” Bam greeted immediately in an excited whisper which just as quickly turned anxious and concerned. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, fine,” Aguero assured, not noticing the tight set to his lips until he released them. “I ran into a couple of kids in the hallway, but I didn’t know them. It’s fine.” But he did know that it wasn’t a good sign if the boy was being trained by another child, probably his sister, who was not much older than he was. Most mothers hired professionals, oftentimes adult family members.

“Kids?” Wangnan echoed in a whisper yell, eyebrow raised and obviously confused. “Why would…?”

“Training hall,” Aguero responded shortly. “We need to keep in mind there could be activity there, any time of day.”

“But it’s 2AM!”

Aguero didn’t want to talk about beyond a wave of the hand as an answer, so he didn’t. That was one thing he never spoke of with anybody, not even Bam. But that was unrelated to the fact that he did know the training hall very well, better than most of the estate. Aguero didn’t actually live on the grounds of the Khun Family Mansion for most of his childhood life. His mother comprised a less important branch of the Khuns, so they lived elsewhere, although the Estate was still something all recognized Khuns had access to. He did, however, live here once his sister became a candidate for the Princess of Jahad.

_“So where does the great Khun clan live anyways?” Shibisu approached with a jesting tone as they laid the map out on the table._

_“That planet,” Aguero replied easily, pointing the spot out on the map at a place near the heart of Central, a short distance away from the planet that held the capital._

_“Yeah genius, where_ on _the planet?” Anaak, unamused, asked testily in turn._

_Aguero smirked lightly. “The whole thing.”_

_“You serious? That planet’s bigger than the capital!”_

_“Oh, it’s real,” Endorsi confirmed. “I’ve been there before; they somehow managed to fill it to the brim. Must be that stupidly high number of wives Eduan has. Not that everyone there is a Khun, though. We might gain some attention, but blending in is possible.”_

_Aguero nodded. “Yes, there’s a large population of business partners, employees, and the help, as well. But that’s not important. Our target is the Mansion, so our priority is remaining hidden. The hangar is a separate building connected to the mansion. The other buildings that surround it are mostly branch houses. Here, I have a map of the grounds; let me draw in some of the details I remember…”_

Khun entered a passcode into the console and looked up to see a pathway open across a chasm to the giant resting ship of oaken glint and dark blue markings courtesy of its owner, Khun Eduan—the Mabarondenna. This starship was the perfect target—a model with a history of good performance, outfitted with far more and better weaponry than the 134th had ever laid eyes on, durable as a brick, and yet, small and light enough to maneuver well in an escape situation and be easily manageable by their crew. Plus, being a somewhat older model meant that the latest security measures wouldn’t apply. But right now, one of the best features of this target was, quite simply, location.

“We need to scout the area,” Aguero announced suddenly to the three of them still at the railing staring at the thing. “There’s enough room in the Mabarondenna to hold one or two smaller ships besides the Red Lion, so we should pick one.”

“Wait, hold up!” Ehwa appeared immediately suspicious. “You didn’t mention that before! Whatever happened to ‘I know this place like the back of my hand and I know exactly what I want’?”

Well, true, he might have overstated his familiarity with the mansion and estate in their previous conversations, but he _did_ know what their destination was. Instinctively, he eyed the wall that separated this area from the Blue Lion’s bay. It required a roundabout route to actually get there, with higher security besides, but that was one goal he wasn’t going to give up on quite so easily, not when they’ve come this far. He glanced back at the others and caught Bam’s knowing but maybe not quite approving look. That alone made Aguero a little guilty—he knew Bam would have rather him be more open and tell everybody about the Blue Lion before they got here. But Aguero just wasn’t ready to admit he was building a plan off of this—it was logical to not set this in stone by any means. The Lion might not still be there. It might not allow them to take it—because whether or not anyone got chosen as a pilot today, Aguero did plan on taking it into the Mabarondenna with them, yet even that he couldn’t guarantee. The Lion’s programming was strange, to say the least.

But, if he told everyone on this team about the Blue Lion, what were the chances they would actually give up on taking it? Would they worry too greatly over the fact that the Khuns, who were allies of Jahad, had it? Or maybe, Aguero really just didn’t want to admit that he had already been rejected as a pilot, not that it was information he necessarily had to share. But he was fine with that. The Khuns were a corrupted family anyways, and he would be pleased simply to see this lion of Voltron taken away from it.

“It was a secondary part of the plan,” Aguero replied easily, trying not to look at Bam too much. He’ll have to apologize later. “But I know the area we should check. A few of us can split off and go there, but we have to move quickly.”

And therein lay the other problem that got pushed into a last-minute decision—who to bring? He kept telling himself he wasn’t banking on a pilot—that was something that might not happen at all. The old Voltron teams of legend were said to be associated with each other before Voltron happened, but that could easily be either lie or coincidence. There was nothing to say that anything was guaranteed to happen now. But even so, Aguero still couldn’t manage to wrap his head around what this mysterious criteria even was. They said the pilot was “chosen” by the lion—that meant that something in the lion’s system had to be reacting to the pilot in its cockpit, probably in regards to their quintessence aura. Maybe purity of character was somehow a part of it that way—the science of quintessence was strange like that. Maybe it was the pilot’s abilities. Surely, they would have to be strong for this to work. And yet, Hatz almost didn’t make sense for that very reason. He was strong, yes, but his strength was in his ability as a swordsman and melee fighter. He knew how to fly a ship, but that wasn’t his strong point. Maybe that didn’t matter to the lion? But also, why was it that FUG had it for so long and were never able to make a pilot? Wouldn’t they have had people of great abilities as well? But then, so did the Khuns. So character had to be part of it, then. But Aguero had no idea how. Still, on his end, he had few clues besides picking the most capable.

“Bam, Ehwa, can you come with me?” he asked after a short pause. “Wangnan, you get inside the Mabarondenna and get to the controls. You’ll be flying us out. Also, if I give you the signal, be ready to blow a hole in that wall.” He pointed to the wall that was in his line of sight before.

Wangnan was nodding along but stopped at that last part. “Hold on, you want me to _what_ now? But that—”

“Will be the part when we’re all ready to leave. It’ll happen fast, I promise.”

The confused look on Wangnan’s face was enough to make it clear that he did think his leader was quite crazy, but gratefully, he didn’t argue the point. “Fine, I’ll make the walls go boom.” He shrugged.

If only they could blow up the entire mansion while they were at it. Aguero smirked at the thought. “Then let’s get to it.”

The three of them ran quickly through the hangar’s chambers, ships large and small providing cover as they wove around them. The space was considerably large by the 134th’s standards, although in reality, this was only a small glimpse of the treasure trove that was the Khun Family fleet. Most of that was on a base elsewhere on the planet. But, it was at the Mansion where the best part was.

He recognized the door to the Blue Lion’s hangar the moment he saw it, innocuous as it was. It was the same entrance through which he watched from a distance once when a ceremony giving one more chosen Khun a try at the Lion took place, and it was also the same place he snuck into that one night so many years ago, determined to try for himself. It wouldn’t be quite the same experience getting in this time as it was the last time. His name was locked out of the system in general, and even though Ran had the hangar’s security disabled, this particular door held additional measures unique to it. Aguero was just going to have to hack it.

“So, are you going to tell us what’s so _special_ about this extra ship of yours?” Ehwa questioned probingly as Aguero got to work, her tone just the right amount of impatient to be annoying. Aguero needed to focus, because they didn’t have time. Then again, he probably should say _something_ at this point.

“Like I said, secondary part of the plan,” Aguero reiterated as he disassembled the panel off the security log-in computer screen. “There’s something here I want to get, but I can’t make guarantees. Since we were making good on time, I decided to go for it.”

“And what _is_ that ‘something’?” Ehwa probed further, as she obviously thought that now was the perfect time for a chat.

Bam stayed silent, looking off in the direction they came from as if focusing on keeping alert for activity. Aguero let out a sigh. Well, it wasn’t like Ehwa wasn’t about to find out anyways. “The Blue Lion.”

“THE _WHAT—_!?”

“Quiet!” Aguero admonished, even though her response was more of a whisper-yell.

But maybe he _shouldn’t_ have said anything, because turns out, he wasn’t off the hook. “Sorry, just—are you serious? Why the heck didn’t you say anything _before_!?” Ehwa continued in a quieter but still irritated tone. “No…wait. That was a stupid joke, wasn’t it?”

“No, I was serious,” Aguero clarified tiredly.

“Then why not _mention_ that?”

“Because then, everyone would freak out about it,” he explained, his own impatience mounting. “This way just made more sense.”

“Bam!” Ehwa turned in a flash to their currently quiet companion, face shadowed in the room’s lack of light. “Did you—?”

“Bam and Shibisu knew,” Aguero confessed. “I told them the plan back at Fergium.”

“But…the _Blue Lion_!? That’s a huge deal! Why not at least clue us in?”

“Well _maybe_ I just didn’t want to talk about it!”

“Argh, what is _up_ with you!?” Ehwa, now thoroughly annoyed, spoke with an irritated groan, her volume rising slightly. “Would you kill you just to be upfront for once? Why does everything have to be a secret? News flash—we’re all about to go into the complete unknown with you! We could be walking into literal hell going against Jahad, and that’s fine—I already decided I’m staying. But if there’s some other ‘surprise’ out there that you know and the rest of us don’t, I _think_ it would be nice to share.”

“You’re oversimplifying things.” He _really_ didn’t need this conversation right now. “ _And_ you’re proving my point. We shouldn’t get hyper fixated on the Lion. It’s an unknown. We can talk about this later but now—”

“Someone’s here.”

His words and hands froze at the sound of Bam’s voice. The room went instantly silent as the three of them tensed, eyes turned to the dark void of the wide, empty hall. Aguero immediately regretted saying anything at all. He got carried away. His hands hovered over the wiring; he was almost in, but he would have to hold off. If it was another Khun, he needed to be the one in front and center, if it had to come to that point at all.

“Get back,” he hissed in a low whisper, seeing both Bam and Ehwa tense up for a fight when it would definitely be better to hide. But there was nothing. Only an empty hallway with a small cruiser parked in a bay a short distance in front of them and some maintenance equipment to their right. Aguero hadn’t heard a thing, which was odd as he was usually the first to do so in these situations, but he trusted Bam’s senses. And yet, it didn’t make sense. Every entrance to this hangar was being watched by someone now. Ran’s team was in front, Anaak and Endorsi had the connector, and Boro was now in the back. Why didn’t anyone—?

_“—ser the damn call already! Khun! Where even are—?"_

_BOOM!_

Aguero didn’t have time to say a word, but he saw the ripples of the dark shockwave coming the same moment Endorsi’s fuzzy voice came in over his comm. His back collided violently against the wall. His head rang with a vengeance. All the more reason to get back on his feet.

The dark of the room was annihilated in an instant by Ehwa’s fire, a fitting counter to the shadow energy coming straight for them. “Show yourself!” she demanded as she went in for the attack, just before the dark energy blast burst in their faces.

That was not a Khun. None of them had an ability like that.

“Endorsi!” Volume didn’t matter anymore as he fairly yelled over the line. Why wasn’t he hearing her clearly!?

_“What, Khun? Finally! We got…some guy…south…still there? Do you hear…”_

No, he didn’t. It didn’t work, but it didn’t matter. In that instant, all the words that would have been on Aguero’s lips died at the sight of a silky black tendril around Bam’s neck, and a shadowy form in a silver mask and black robe emerging from the darkness to accompany it.

Bam didn’t move an inch, his gaze suddenly clouded and distant behind his long bangs as his eyes slid over to catch a glimpse of the man in the mask with red painted eyes. Ehwa grew tense as if ready to fight the second this man took another step. Aguero tensed as he was unsure whether to stop himself from making a single move at all or to go jam a knife in this man’s skull right here and now.

“Reflejo?” Bam’s voice made a choking sound as he broke their taut web of silence, all at once confirming everything Aguero already feared.

This was someone he knew. Aguero knew this would happen. He knew, but he failed to do anything about it. _Again_.

Other FUG agents showed themselves from the background behind the masked man in unspoken threat, which must have fed into Reflejo’s aura of calmness as he addressed them, as if so sure that nothing they did could possibly be a threat.

“I believe it is time we had a discussion.”

And with an unspoken press of a button once his voice muffled the communicator’s sound, Aguero sent Wangnan his signal.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whelp, FUG was going to have to show up sooner or later, right?
> 
> But yeah, the heist begins! I know, it's a bit of a shorter chapter than usual—I was originally planning on more, but then I thought it'd fit better with the next one, once the tone shifts and everything starts going go-go-go (to give the technical term lol). A lot of Khun in this chapter—he'll get to be the POV a lot in this arc, since it's his (former) house and all. That little mini-argument between him and Ehwa wasn't originally planned, but then I figured that Ehwa *would* be the type to get offended by the secrecy, so yeah. Don't want to downplay Khun's planning skills or leadership necessarily, but keeping his cards close to his chest as a general rule seems to be a habit of his, like a reflex. Not that he doesn't have reasons, but that's just up for interpretation, right? What do *you* think he should have done?
> 
> Anyhow, that point aside, the heist has officially gone from sneaky-sneak to ker-blam mode, and Reflejo is here! What could he possibly want? Hmm? Found out next chapter...which I promise I will update sooner or later.
> 
> As always, thanks so much for reading!


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